Rory & Avi & Everything Else
by persevera
Summary: New girl brings out Rory's strengths and secrets. Involves OC, who anyone who has read Damily stories will recognize
1. Charm Me

Though she had lived in Lima, OH, all of her life and knew most of the students at McKinley High School, Avi Lopez was entering it for the first time as a student. Her big sister Santana was chattering away, and Avi was only paying partial attention, as she greeted everyone she passed.

"Do you have the arrangement to give the band for your glee club audition?" Santana asked.

"Of course," Avi answered. "I'm in the next hall," she said as Santana stopped at her locker. "I'll see you later."

She continued through the noisy, crowded hall, smiling and speaking to everyone. Through the expanse of lockers, posters, and classroom doors, she noticed someone talking to Finn that must be new. He couldn't have escaped her notice before, not with that infectious grin and those sparkling eyes. She walked past, favoring the new guy with a special smile as she said "Hey, Finn."

"Oh, hi, Avi," Finn responded. "I heard you were coming here."

"And here I am," she said, turning back around in their direction, and beaming invitingly. She threw another smile over her shoulder as she turned and continued down the corridor.

If she'd actually crooked her finger, she couldn't have more effectively lured Rory, who began following her, as if drawn to a magnet, though not too closely, so he could enjoy her walk.

Finn followed behind, hissing, "Rory, stop," but the younger boy seemed to have blocked out everything except the dark-haired teen siren.

He stopped when she reached her locker. He realized he didn't know what to say. She had just flashed another smile and said hi when Finn came up to them.

"Avi," he began, "this is Rory Flanagan from Ireland. Rory, this is Avelina Lo-pez," he said significantly. "Everyone calls her Avi. She's actually a transfer too. She's been living in New York."

Avi stood with a large armload of books and said "Hello, Rory," rolling the r's in his name playfully. Her smiles and tone were giving him so much encouragement, as if to say "Come on, charm me; you can do it," that the shy, uncertain lad suddenly became cool.

"Hello," he responded in a surprisingly low voice coming from such a baby face. "May I call you Avelina? It's such a beautiful name."

She tilted her head and smiled. "You can call me whatever you want."

Rory managed to tear his eyes from her long enough to pat Finn on the shoulder and say, "Thanks for the introduction. I think Avelina and I can get acquainted on our own."

Finn opened his mouth to speak, then walked away, shaking his head slightly. _This could be bad,_ he thought to himself, _Santana's always been protective of her sister and she already can't stand Rory._

The young couple stood looking at each other for another moment then, with the instincts of a natural tease, Avi fumbled with the books in her arms so that they fell to the floor. Rory bent down to help her with them. "Why do you have so many?" he asked.

Avi explained that her early classes were on the other side of the building and she didn't have time between periods to return to her locker, so she would have to carry all of her books for the morning. "That's what I get for transferring so late in the year," she said, "more books than arms."

Rory took the hint and the books and gallantly said, "Lucky I have such a large satchel. My classes are on the other side of the building too." He offered his arm and they began their first stroll together.

Avi saw Ricky, her eighth grade boyfriend, with others wearing their hockey jerseys, approaching them, carrying a large cup. She gave him a look that said "Don't even think about it" and Rick the Stick sheepishly walked past them, looking for another slushie victim.

"I'll need to get a big bag like that," Avelina said, hoping Rory didn't notice how close he had come to being iced. "A regular backpack just won't be enough."

"Oh there's no need," said Rory hurriedly. "I mean, I volunteer to be your book caddy as long as you need one."

Avi found it necessary to move closer so that someone could walk past her. "That's so nice of you," she said. "But I don't want to take advantage of you. Here's my classroom."

Rory opened the flap on his shoulder bag so that Avi would have to pull out the books she needed. He looked down on her, noticing the long fringe of her lashes and the sweet smell of her hair.

When she lifted her head, she realized how close they actually were and giggled just a little.

"I won't mind at all," Rory said, "as long as you keep smiling at me like that."

For Avi, anything other than a smile around the Irish boy didn't seem possible. "You know I'm going to be finding out everything I can about you while I'm in here," she said.

He grinned. "You won't learn much. I've led a quiet life," he said, exaggerating his accent. "I'll be here for you after class," he concluded with a wink, as he walked away.

Avi entered the classroom and closed the door. Just as the bell rang, she saw through the window in the door Rory running madly in the direction from which they'd come, confirming her suspicion that his class wasn't actually in this part of the building.

"Oh, he's so cute," she squealed, turning on her heel and noticing her friend Angela, who was now a cheerio, sitting at a table with an empty seat. "Hey, Ang," she said, "who's my competition for Flanagan?"

"Who?" asked Angela.

Avi squinted in surprise. "The cutie from Ireland. Aren't you all crazy about him?"

Angela half sneered, half shrugged.

"OK," Avi said, "so you're all just crazy then. But that's good...more of him for me," she said, looking dreamily into space. "At least tell me what you know about him."


	2. Forward

Avi was wreathed in smiles as she approached Rory, standing in the hall waiting for her after the first class. "A leprechaun? Seriously?" she asked.

"Oh, well, uh," stammered Rory.

Avi giggled. "You'll be lucky if they let you back in the country. Why were you dressing and acting like that anyway?"

Rory took her books and put them in his bag, trying to regain the cool he'd felt with her before. "I assume you know I'm living with Brittany's family," he began in way of explanation. "She believed in leprechauns and thought I was one, so I went along with it." He hoped that explanation would be enough. But Avi was a Lopez and, therefore, had a finely-tuned crap meter.

"What did you do besides wear green?" she asked.

Rory let out a sigh and said in a rush, "Just made her think I was granting her wishes. You know, I think after this, you can carry your books, and I'll carry you," he said playfully, lifting her with one arm.

Avi smiled in spite of herself. She had noticed the evasion and didn't like it. She'd just been through too much of that in New York.

In that position, Avi and Rory were face-to-face. He looked at her and said, "That's almost the look I saw earlier." He set her down. "My goal for the day is to put that expression on your face again."

Only a slight smile remained, as Avi asked, "Is your next class back where we started too?"

Rory nodded resignedly, "and upstairs."

"Then," said Avi, "you'd better hurry. Here I'll take my books so they won't weigh you down. Thanks for your help."

She flounced into the classroom and Rory stood gaping, bewildered by the turn of events. He began walking back the way they'd come, looking back at Avi, who had taken a seat and was clearly miffed.

He was waiting for her at the end of the period and she was ready for him, with the additional information she'd gotten from her last classmates.

"I can't believe you'd have to go to that much trouble to get into Brittany's pants," she said tartly. "I've seen a lot of guys who weren't as charming or as cute, who didn't have to put out so much effort before she'd put out."

Rory had planned what he wanted to say but was taken aback by Avi's comments. "You don't like Brittany, do you," he observed.

"I liked her fine before my sister became involved with her. Brittany's casual attitude about people and relationships isn't so cute though, when someone you care about has much more serious feelings for her. "

Rory contemplated that statement, while Avi continued, "I heard you're in glee club. How does that work with you, Santana and Brittany, since you got into her, what was the phrase, 'pot o' gold?"

"It didn't happen," Rory said. "Brittany was angry with me for a while but we're friends now and your sister despises me."

They were stopped in front of Avi's class now and she looked up at him thoughtfully. "Santana has her faults but she wouldn't carry a grudge indefinitely, unless she still felt threatened by someone. Does she have reason to see you as a threat, Rory?"

He looked down then attempted a simple answer, "I should talk to Santana."

Will Scheuster called from across the hall "Rory, get in class."

"In just a minute, Sir," he said.

Avi started to walk away and he grabbed her arm.

"Wait, please. I don't have much time left here," he said, fixing his eyes on hers, "and not all of the time I've had here has been good. Since I saw you though, I've felt like it was going to be so much better than any part of it up to now."

"Rory," Mr. Schu called again. Rory looked over at him and held up a finger to indicate one minute.

He turned back to Avi. "It's important that you and your sister understand that. I want a clean slate that I can quickly fill up with you. I know that sounds forward, but I don't have time for subtle. Nothing else in Ohio, or America, for that matter, has appealed to me the way you do."

She began to show signs of relenting, loosening her shoulders and arms and lifting her dark brown eyes to look at him.

"Can I have your books back?" he asked. "I like the weight of them. It makes me think of you." Avi handed them to him. "Can we have lunch together?"

She nodded.

Rory grinned and said "Aside from Mr. Schu yelling, I think this will be the time I look forward to every day. We're so close, I'll be able to feel you just across the hall from me."

"Ms. Lopez," called Avi's teacher. "Rory!" said Schu more forcefully.

With a look of mutual attraction and understanding, they finally separated and went to their respective classrooms.

Rory walked in and gave his teacher a silly grin walking past him.

"Are you in love, Rory?" Mr. Schu asked.

He stopped in his tracks. "I believe I am, Sir."

At the end of the period, he and Avi met again and were walking back to their lockers hand in hand when they and everyone in the vicinity were stopped by a screeching "AVI!"

They turned and saw the equally-dark-eyed and much more volatile Santana bearing down on them. "What is going on?" she demanded.

Rory smiled and said in a soothing tone, "Ah, Santana, how nice you look today. Is that a new outfit?"

Santana, wearing the same Cheerios uniform that she wore everyday, scowled up at him. Avi suppressed a giggle and also looked up at Rory, clearly smitten.

Rory gave her his shoulder bag. "Can you find a table for us while I have that talk with Santana?" he asked.

Avi looked a little wary. "Are you sure you don't need me?"

'I think I might," Rory said pleasingly, "but I can talk to Santana alone."

Avi flashed their secret sister sign at Santana and said "Be nice. I like him." She gave Rory a kiss on the cheek and headed toward her locker.

Rory looked after her with a sigh. "It's funny," he said, "you and your sister are both lovely to look at, like wood sprites. But moving closer, she's still so enchanting, while you can sometimes, like now, take on characteristics of the banshee."

"Enough with the Irish folk tales," Santana said with a deep glare marring her pretty features, "how dare you go near my sister!"

Rory grinned. "Avelina told you, she likes me and, of course, I'm powerless to resist her. She has all the best traits of your family—engaging, feisty and savvy," he said looking at Santana significantly.

"For instance, whatever you've suspected about what Brittany and I do after you've said good night to her is probably right."

"I knew it!" Santana howled, raising her hand with her red-painted nails ready to claw his face.

Rory grabbed her arm. "Don't worry. It's mostly studying. You noticed that she was able to get into advanced biology, right? And I'm rewarded with advanced cuddling. But my interest in Brittany flattened as soon as I saw your sister."

Santana tried to claw with the other hand but Rory grabbed that arm, as well. "And you don't have to worry about her either. I only have a couple of months left here and that's not enough time to...celebrate Avelina the way I would want to if we had unlimited time."

Santana was still seething, though mollified that no one she loved was being defiled by "The Great Gazoo."

Rory continued. "I want to spend as much time with her as I can though, and that includes being welcome in your house and your having to be comfortable with our being attached at the lips. If you can't, I won't have any reason not to continue with Brittany. I haven't been very demanding yet but I'm sure if I were, she'd be more... accommodating."

As he made that last statement, Rory instinctively moved to the side, just as Santana raised her knee to drive into his groin.

"It's your choice," he told her, "your girlfriend or your sister."

Santana looked at him with loathing. "You promise that if I leave you and Avi alone, you'll stay away from Brittany?"

Rory grinned. "May I contract herpes from kissin' the Blarney Stone if I'm lyin' to ya," he said playfully.

She narrowed her eyes still more. "Other people might like this change in you, which I assume has to do with Avi, but I still hate you," she said, turning away from him and heading down the hall, clear for once, since everyone was in the cafeteria.

"As long as you do it silently, we can live with that," he called to her.

Santana trembled with quiet, unexpressed rage. Rory, still grinning, ran off to find the catalyst for his change.


	3. Native Culture

It wasn't hard finding Avi in the cafeteria. A pretty new girl would naturally attract attention so Rory guessed correctly that she was in the middle of the knot of males, mostly jocks, all standing at one end of the table closest to the window in the cavernous room.

He moved to his right to fill his tray from the array of food, then walking up behind the mass, he heard Avi saying, "I told you I'm saving that seat for someone."

He realized he couldn't get through the blockade of muscle and polyester, so he moved around to the other side of the table, across from where Avi was sitting.

He smiled at her and said "Avelina, it's such a nice day, I thought we could have lunch in the courtyard. Slide your tray over here. You can't get through that," he said, referring to everyone standing around her, "so just get up on the table and crawl over to this side. Come on, that's it. That's the look I've been wanting to see again."

Avi climbed down with a big smile and, as he handed her the lunch tray, he addressed the human wall, "So, gentlemen, did you like that view? See how you like this one."

He took his own tray in one hand, threw his arm around Avi and the two of them walked out of the cafeteria and into the sunshine.

"Not so fast, you two," said a voice behind them.

Rory was surprised as Avi obediently stopped, then turned to give Puck Puckerman an adoring look.

"Hey, baby, how are you?" said the lantern-jawed upperclassman with the Mohawk haircut, kissing her on the side of her face. Rory tightened his grip on his tray, imagining it to be Puck's spleen or other vital organ.

He looked at Rory. "No one hangs out with Avi without my approval."

Avi looked at him indulgently. "Oh come on, approve him. He's cute."

Puck looked as though he was inspecting Rory. "Well you are in New Directions and you're kinda cool and she thinks you're cute. Very well, go with my blessing," he said with a flourish of his hand.

Avi giggled and took Rory's arm to lead him to a table in the middle of the courtyard.

"What was that with you and Puck?" he asked, as they set their trays down and took seats beside each other. It was a nice day, but still March, so the courtyard, with it's wide expanse of concrete and tables and steep stairs leading to the upper level of the school, was nearly deserted.

"Oh, he's like my big brother—has been ever since he and Santana were fooling around a couple of years ago."

Rory squinted his light blue eyes in doubt. "Are you sure that's all? It's hard to believe any guy being satisfied with you as a little sister."

"There are some," she insisted, "and Puck is definitely one of them. Have you noticed he likes to take care of people? I was a surrogate for Quinn when she was pregnant and since the birth, I've been a Beth surrogate. Not that I need him to take care of me, but he likes to think I do and it makes him happy."

Rory wasn't convinced but decided to let it go for now.

"How was your talk with Santana?"

Rory leaned closer to her. "Fine. I convinced her that Brittany and every other girl in this school, but one, faded to the background for me at exactly 7:45 this morning."

Avi looked down slightly and smiled demurely…for her. "So you want me to be your Buckeye?"

"My what?" he said, sitting up straighter.

She snickered. "It's a kind of nut. Ohio is the Buckeye State. Haven't you learned that?"

Rory shook his head no.

This time Avi leaned in. "You need to absorb more native culture."

"I look forward to it. Are you being as suggestive as it sounds to me?" Rory asked, speaking just a little raspily.

Avi flipped her hair with a small laugh. "No. I think it's just you."

He grinned at her. "It's a little you. It fits with what I've learned about you today."

She turned her head away slightly and gave him a curious look from the corner of her eye. "Like what?"

He rubbed his hands together. "So it's time for my report on Avelina Luz Lopez," he began. "You're described as a flirt, but not a heartbreaker."

"Oh that's nice. Who said that?

Rory shook his head. "I'm not telling you. You might like him better."

Avi put her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands. "Not likely," she said, "but go on with your report."

"You turn seventeen in May. You're thought of as the sweetheart of the Lopez family. You've been going to school in New York for almost three years and in that time, you were in a young people's theater group. Your junior classmates assume that's why you're having to take sophomore classes now," Rory concluded.

"Well, that and some of my credits didn't transfer," she said.

He looked puzzled. "Why did you come back so late in the school year if it was going to hurt your record?"

Avi shrugged her shoulders. "I've been thinking about it ever since Santana was outed. I just wasn't able to get away right then. But aren't you glad I'm here?" she asked saucily.

"Oh, yeah. It's just that ever since I've been here, all anyone has talked about is leaving Lima to go somewhere like New York, and you did the exact opposite. I hope whatever it was that made you want to leave wasn't too bad, because I'm thrilled that you're here," Rory said.

Avi quickly dropped her eyes but Rory caught the sad expression in them. "It was bad, wasn't it?"

She sighed and looked down at her tray for a second. "It's probably not as bad as I'm making it out to be. But I don't want to talk about it right now."

Rory took her hand. "I understand," he said. "Here you can just be sweet Avi, surrounded by everyone who loves you."

She smiled at him. "You're a good guy."

She rose from the table, saying, "This afternoon I have gym and drama and, of course, glee club, so I won't have any books."

Rory nodded. "Why don't you spend that time with your friends. I feel like I monopolized you this morning."

"Will you be there for my audition?"

"Definitely," he assured her.

Avi leaned over. "It was nice spending a whole hour with you." She gave him a small kiss on the lips.

He looked up at her and said, "I think that might be my new favorite expression—the way you look after just kissing me. But I'd better check for sure." He put his hand behind her neck and drew her back for a slightly longer kiss.

"Ah, yeah. That's the best-looking thing I've seen all day," he said.

Avi's smile grew bigger. "I like your face too," she said softly.

"And my accent?"

"Well who doesn't?" she stated. She flipped her raven locks again and, walking away, said "See ya, Irish."

"Later, Latina," he called.

He watched until he couldn't see her, then stood up to take the trays back to the cafeteria. He turned and saw all of the young men who had been crowding around Avi earlier, now blocking the door.

According to guy code, he was now a legitimate rival so he no longer had to worry about being demeaned with slushies or bullying in the halls. He might be challenged to a fair fight, but then he thought the Irish streets had prepared him well enough for that.

What happened in the next few minutes, though, was crucial.

He did a few really bad river dance steps, finished with some obscene hand gestures directed at the red-shirted phalanx, then picked up the trays and headed straight for the boys.

There was a little bumping and half-hearted shoving, but they let him through. In the cafeteria he deposited the trays and walked out from the other side of the room, leaned against the wall and, after his show of bravado, heaved a sigh of relief.

It was clear that Avi was good for him in more ways than one.


	4. Chemistry

Every damned clock in the whole damned school was running backwards. That was the only possible explanation for none of them reaching 3:00. Rory was suffering from Avi withdrawal. He'd known her less than eight hours and having to spend the last two away from her had turned him into a compulsive timekeeper.

When the final bell rang, he bolted from his seat and sped to the choir room. It was larger than other classrooms, with wide steps on which were arranged three rows of chairs. He sat a little apart from everyone else on the lowest level and put another chair next to his for Avelina, then eagerly awaited her arrival.

She came in with Santana and Mr. Schuester from his adjoining office and gave Rory a small smile and wave of her hand as she passed in front of him to consult with the musicians.

Rory watched her, thinking everyone else would just give them the song sheets—not Avi. She flirts with them too.

She consulted with the lead guitarist. "This arrangement has flamenco guitar. Can you do that?"

"Sure," he said, putting away the electric guitar that he'd had and picking up an acoustic. He began to play the run of notes with the complicated fingering from the sheet music and Avi smiled at him delightedly.

"That's perfect," she squealed. "You're going to be the star of this number, playing like that. I'll just be singing backup for you."

He smiled broadly and said, "I doubt that. But I won't let you down."

Rory began to think of ways he could inflict internal damage, just as he had imagined doing to Puck earlier that day when he had kissed Avi. He caught a glimpse of the older boy. Puck grinned at Rory's barely-controlled seething. He leaned his long frame over from his second level seat and said, "It's just Avi. She doesn't mean anything by it. If you want to be with her, you've gotta know that most people, especially guys, are gonna love her, but she's only interested in one person. From the way she keeps looking over here, that's you."

Rory smiled and relaxed a little after that, and still more when Avi came to sit next to him after she'd finished charming the band.

She moved to the center of the room after Schu's introduction. "I'm so happy to be here and see all of my old friends," she said, with her eyes panning the room, "and make new ones," she finished, resting her sight on Rory. He winked in response and she blushed a little and took a second to regain her poise.

"The last production I was in was Mama Mia and we added a couple of ABBA songs, as if there weren't enough already, but this one became my favorite."

She sang Fernando. Rory knew he wasn't the only one who was transfixed. She had a richness and depth to her voice that the other girls, for all their pretty tones and range, just didn't have. And though she didn't actually plan choreography, her natural moves, swaying and circling her hips, were sensuous and helped tell the story.

At the conclusion he stood and led the enthusiastic applause. Avi bowed to the audience and the band, then re-took her place next to Rory, looking up at him with obvious infatuation.

From her spot in the top row, Santana watched them with disgust. She leaned over to speak to Brittany. "Great…my sister in love with freakin' Darby O'Gill."

She didn't see Brittany's expression as she also looked at them, a combination of wistfulness and jealousy.

Schu ended the ovation as he moved to his easel in the center of the room and flipped the page to reveal a long list of songs under the heading Duets: Chemistry.

Mike and Tina and Finn and Rachel immediately began scanning the list for their perfect songs and Sam and Mercedes surreptitiously eyed each other from opposite ends of the room.

Schu explained, "I want us to move beyond the usual love song duets, explore different kinds of chemistry. You could choose to do a song with someone that you admire or have some conflict with. You're all experienced enough now that you should be able to make any pairing work."

Everyone was surprised when Brittany spoke up first, saying, "I'll sing with Avi."

Avi twisted in her chair to look at Brittany and they tacitly recognized each other as competition.

She turned back and said "Yeah. That's fine with me."

Schu asked "What kind of chemistry do you think the two of you have?"

Avi considered, "definitely not friendly, I guess hostile."

"I would agree with that," said Brittany.

Avi looked over her shoulder and asked acidly, "Did someone look that up for you, Madame President? Since you've already got the wardrobe, why don't we do You Belong With Me."

Brittany responded "If I remember correctly you have a big supply of short skirts and high heels for your part, so it will be easy for you too."

To break the tension Sam volunteered for a bromance duet with Rory, choosing Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. He had noticed Sugar staring petulantly at Rory and wanted to rescue him before she named him as her partner.

Rory had been aware of the harsh scrutiny too and was grateful to Sam, but didn't know the song.

"It's a good choice for the two of you. It's fun," Avi assured him.

Puck had also been monitoring the dynamics in the room and immediately chose Sugar. She turned to her left to give a coquettish lift of her shoulder and a big smile to him.

"And what is your chemistry?" Schu asked.

"Curiosity," Puck responded, leaning toward Sugar seductively.

Avi was clearly happy with Rory and Puck didn't want that spoiled for her by Sugar. Santana had told him what had happened to Avi that had made her want to come home. They were just waiting for the right time to pay a little revenge visit to New York. In the meantime, he'd tolerate Sugar's whining to make it easy for Avi and Rory to get to know each other.

Blaine and Santana acknowledged their mutual admiration and chose Stand By Me.

Mike and Rachel thought it would be interesting to see if they could bring out the best in each other, with her helping him in singing and his challenging her in dance.

Tina and Mercedes excitedly looked over the list. Curt and Finn decided to do a number honoring their brotherly bond. Artie and Quinn had been spending a lot of time together since her accident that had put her in a wheelchair too, so they were a natural pair.

Schu listed all of the duos on his board. "Alright, some interesting choices." As the group began to disperse to plan their performances, he called after them, "I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with."

_**a/n I have ideas for songs for all of the duets but I'd like to know if anyone has suggestions for some of the pairs. Just include them in a review or PM. Thank you**_


	5. Good night

"I really want to snog her."

That was all Rory could think about as he and Avi walked through the school hand in hand after glee club. He saw a couple of empty classrooms along the way and almost stopped, but it just didn't seem to be the right place for their first proper kiss.

The though that was running through Avi's mind was just as simple—"Quit being so damn picky!"

They strolled out the front door of the school and Rory remembered there was a bench under a tree on the right side of the campus. They only got as far as the shadow of the tree, not all the way to the bench, before he pulled Avi into a tight embrace.

She planted baby kisses on his throat and jawline, coaxing him to lower his head so that her lips could finally reach his.

She suspected she was a lot more experienced than he so didn't want to overwhelm him with technique. She just enjoyed the sensations of his arms around her, the softness of his wavy hair, the firm yet gentle pressure of his mouth on hers.

Rory was ecstatic. _Nothing can spoil this,_ then heard in front of them the sound of throat-clearing. _…except that._

He gave Sugar an exasperated look. Avi greeted her warmly.

"Hey, Sugar. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to speak to you in the choir room. How've ya been?"

Rory had been under the impression that Sugar had transferred to McKinley from private school. He personally believed that she had grown tired of annoying everyone there and had changed schools to find new people to torment. He was unpleasantly surprised to see that she and Avi were apparently acquainted. "You know each other?" he asked.

"Miss Chloe's dance class for, what was it, three years?" Avi asked the other girl.

Sugar nodded and simpered. "I just want to say that…"

Suddenly Puck appeared at Sugar's elbow. "There you are. Come on. I'll take you home. We can keep working on our number."

"But I have my convertible," she answered.

Puck's eyes lit up. It was a particularly balmy evening for early spring in Ohio. He liked the idea of driving around with the top down, the wind blowing his ha...well, he liked the idea of the convertible anyway. "Okay, then you take me home. I'll drive," he said, taking her arm and moving her away from the couple under the tree.

Rory gave him a small thumbs up of gratitude. Puck nodded in response.

Then Rory led Avi to the bench. He seated her across it, with her legs extended. He sat next to her then leaned her back into his arms. The kissing became more intense. He burned and ached and kept going back for more. _I promised Santana, I promised myself. It won't go any farther than this, _he told himself_, but, awhh, the dreams I'm going to have tonight._

He held her face in his hands and stared. "You are the hottest girl I've ever seen," he told her.

Avi's eyes, almost black with a hint of dark brown, flashed with the sun's last light, as she asked, "How would you say that in Ireland?"

He smiled as he repeated, "You are the hottest girl I've ever seen. Some things are universal. You're the hottest girl in the universe."

She was about to respond with something complimentary when they heard, "That's enough, Liam Neeson- wannabe. Avi, it's time to go."

Avi looked at Santa pleadingly. "I'll meet you at the car in five minutes, okay?" She turned back to Rory. "I guess I have to leave now."

"Wait," he said, "you haven't given me your number yet." He pulled out his phone and handed it to her. "Enter it for me and say something sweet."

As she handed it back to him, he gave her what he though was a final kiss. "Good night, lovely lass," he said huskily.

Avi stood up, placed her hands just above his knees then leaned down for what she thought would be the last kiss. "Good night, you fine foreigner," she said.

Thus, their first day together ended, with Rory treated one more time to his favorite expression—Avi's finely-sculpted, happy face hovering over him after yet another last kiss.


	6. Social Engineering

**_a/n re: the name Kilgore. I wanted something very Irish and that happens to be my mother's maiden name. My grandfather was originally from Ohio. It seemed fated_**

Avi came out of her first period classroom on her second day at McKinley with friend in tow. Rory was waiting in the bustling hallway for her, the combination of the neon strips in the ceiling and the sunlight from the door behind him giving him a particularly pleasing look.

"Angela tells me the two of you haven't met," she said to Rory. She made the introductions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Angela," said Rory politely.

_Okay,_ Angela though to herself, _now I get it._ "It's nice to meet you," she managed to say, but nothing after that. She just kept looking.

Avi gave her a little push on her shoulder to send her on her way. "Talk to you later, Ang."

She then took Rory's arm and headed for her next classroom. "That's one convert to the power of Rory," she crowed.

"Do you plan to introduce me to a lot of people?"

She nodded. "That's the plan. No one can resist you after an introduction and you need to learn that there are good people in this school outside of glee club."

Rory turned his head toward Angela walking slowly down the hall. "Well she seems nice, if a little quiet for a cheerleader," he observed.

Avi smiled. "She's vocal enough, when she isn't tongue-tied and mesmerized."

Rory looked down on the petite Avi. "I haven't had that effect on you."

"No," she agreed, "I have to stay on my toes around you."

He grinned. "Speaking of on your toes…" and made a little hand gesture for Avi to do so to enable him to kiss her. He then placed his hand on the top of her head.

He chuckled. "You are small, but ideally-proportioned," he added, allowing his hand to graze her hip.

She looked up in surprise. "Where did you hear that?"

"I looked up what I could find about you last night," he explained. "That's what the reviewer wrote about you when you played Sandy in Grease. I can't wait to see you in black leather," he said, looking at her eagerly.

He began walking backward up the hallway, singing and still looking at her ."There was something in the air that night, the stars so bright, Fernando…."

Avi smiled as she turned into her classroom and went up to her muscle-bound, friend Craig. "Did you get that last equation? Could I take a look at it?"

Craig got out his homework and Avi showed him where he'd made his error in calculation. She then looked at him seriously and said, "I heard you and Ricky were the leaders in the harassment of the Irish guy. I want it to stop."

Craig had never been romantically involved with Avi, still he'd never been able to refuse her anything—not since second grade when she would ask for his fruit cup and give him her spinach in exchange. She was looking at him now with that same cute pout.

"I can't believe you became a bully, Popeye. How did that happen?" she asked him sadly.

Craig looked down shamefacedly. "Mob mentality, I guess," mumbled the hockey team's goalie.

Avi tilted her head to reestablish eye contact with him. "You're better than the mob; you always have been."

He watched her as she took her seat at the table in front of him. _Sometimes you don't know what you've missed until it comes back,_ he though to himself.

At the end of class Avi hesitated in getting her books and leaving her seat, so that she and Craig were walking out the door at the same time. Rory was, of course, waiting for her.

"Rory," she said, "meet one of my oldest friends, Craig Kilgore. Craig, this is my newest friend Rory Flanagan."

Rory lifted an eyebrow as he heard the last name of the person who had first shoved him into a locker and derisively called him "Irish," but for Avi he held out his hand and said, "Good to meet ya, Craig."

The other boy shook his hand, saying simply "Yeah."

Avi continued "Craig only lives a block from Brittany. Maybe sometime you could give Rory a ride after school so he doesn't have to rely on her," she said to Craig.

"We'll see," he said with a slight smile, as he walked away.

Rory looked after him with an ironic grin. "Kilgore, huh," he said as he and Avi walked to their third period classes."His clan and mine might have feuded in the old country. Doesn't he know his heritage?"

"Maybe you could help him re-connect with that," Avi suggested.

He looked at her amusedly. "Maybe," he said, leaning down to kiss her. Suddenly he was grabbed by Mr. Schuester who propelled him into his classroom across the hall, at the same time that Avi's teacher Ms. Martin took her by the hand and led her into her class. The teachers then poked their heads out the door and raised their hands at each other, as if they were sharing a high five.

But the couple could only be separated until the bell rang for lunch.

Avi was visibly anxious, as Rory had told her on the phone last night that he had something he wanted to talk to her about during lunch. Rory had fixed the food and had it in his bag for the two of them to share in the courtyard. He suggested she go back to her locker for a jacket, while he went out and got a seat for them.

While waiting for her, he got a phone call from his older brother. "Hey, Brian, what the craic?" he asked.

The international connection was good at this time of day. "I haven't talked to you in a couple of days and apparently since then you have a new girl," Brian said.

Rory could barely contain himself as he responded "Ah, you wouldn't believe her. I'll send you some pictures in a little while. We're about to have lunch together."

"I'm happy for you," said Brian, "but don't forget about what goes on here. There are rumblings," he said soberly.

"There are always rumblings there," Rory responded. "It's like living in a damned earthquake zone."

"Yeah, well," said Brian, "this time the rumblings are at your old school."

Rory sat up straighter. "Who?"

"I don't know," his brother said. "Just make sure you stay in touch with everybody."

The connection broke at that time, just as Rory caught sight of Avi coming down the stairs. He remembered her singing yesterday, "I could see how proud you were to fight for freedom in this land…" He snapped a picture of her with his phone to send to his brother and friends back home.

He began pulling out the food as she came to sit down. "I'm kind of a picky eater," she warned.

He chuckled as he said, "I know. I learned that last night too. I looked over your facebook page on foods that you liked and the long list of ones you didn't like. It wasn't easy, but I think I'll satisfy you."

"Well, you have so far," she said brightly.

He laid out her peanut butter sandwich, fruit cup, carrot sticks and "good cheese to nibble". She looked at the array and said "Perfect. Thank you."

Rory munched his own peanut butter sandwich (his new favorite since being recently exposed to it) and tortilla rounds, and watched delightedly as Avi dove into her lunch. "I almost forgot," he said, bringing out her favorite treat—a chilled peppermint patty.

The smile she gave him then made him hesitate…but it had to be done. He turned the full force of his compelling blue eyes on her and began his confession.

"Yesterday was the best day I've had in America—better than a lot of days in Ireland. I would have done anything to keep from ruining that. I decided to wait a day before telling you something that you need to know, something that Sugar almost told you last night."

Avi stopped eating and gave Rory and those eyes her full attention.

"I was Sugar's date for her Valentine's Day party," he explained, "after telling her and everyone in glee club that I was going to be sent home at the end of the school year. I've applied for an extension of my student visa, but haven't heard anything about it yet." He sighed with frustration and continued. "So I didn't really know then whether I would be going home or not.

_Ah_, Avi thought to herself. That explained Sugar's strange behavior last night.

"She was so upset when she found out it wasn't completely true," Rory continued trying to keep the sarcasm in check. "She said I had forever destroyed her trust and there was no way for us to build a relationship on a lie. She even had her dad come talk to me. He brought some muscle with him."

Avi gasped at the idea of grown men roughing him up.

"They didn't touch me," he assured her, "but that's when everyone else decided that Sugar's punishment was worse than my crime. And after all that I didn't even get a snog."

Avi eyed him curiously. "Why didn't you just ask her?"

He looked down at the table and began breaking his tortilla chips into smaller pieces. "Artie wanted to go with her too. We competed for a few days to see who could win her over. She actually chose him after he sang to her then…"

"Then you raised the stakes," Avi finished for him. He nodded.

She began nibbling the broken chips. "It sounds like you were more interested in beating Artie than you were in the date. Boys…" she added with a groan and small shake of her head.

Rory lowered his shoulders that he'd unconsciously tensed, in relief. "So you understand?"

She nodded. "It still wasn't very nice. What about Artie? Was he just trying to best you?"

"Now that you mention it," Rory said, his forehead wrinkling in revelation, "he probably did like her more than I did but soon after that Quinn had her accident and everyone stopped thinking of those things…everyone but Sugar," he added, rolling his eyes.

Avi looked at him sternly. "Well she was humiliated," she said in defense of her dance school friend. "It sounds like she got carried away, but no one likes being played."

She opened her candy wrapper and said, "So you deceived Brittany and she forgave you; you deceived Sugar and she didn't forgive you. Are you wondering now whether I'll forgive you? You told me too that you only had a short time left here. That was the reason that we've become so intense so quickly…because we're supposed to be on borrowed time, remember?"

"We are," said Rory sincerely. This distinction was important to him. He had to make her understand.

"For us it's true. I'm going home for the summer, even if I am allowed to continue school here. I only have a short amount of time to make you care enough about me that you would be waiting for me when I came back. I don't have time for misunderstandings, so I need to be completely honest with you."

They were sitting catty-cornered from each other at the table. Rory swung his leg over his seat and moved closer to Avi.

"I'm not going to do anything to risk being able to spend time like this with you or hold you, discover new expressions on your face."

Avi sighed. The eyes were working their magic. She said quietly, "It's not fair to talk like that when I'm trying to decide if I still like you."

Rory smiled. "You bring it out in me." He looked around at the courtyard. It was nearly deserted, since it was cooler today than yesterday.

"What have you decided? If you still like me, I can't wait any longer to kiss you," he said.

In answer Avi closed the small distance between them and kissed him.

"I can taste the peppermint on your lips," he said, "and I didn't think you could get any sweeter or more tempting." He studied her face. "There's an innocence about you too. All of it together…you're too good to be true."

Avi shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not innocent, Rory."

He chuckled "Oh, yeah. You're a real scrubber, I can tell."

She briefly rested her head on his shoulder. "Time to go," she said, standing up.

Rory grabbed the scarf she was wearing around her neck to gently pull her down for a last kiss. The look on her face was different, more guarded. "I swear you can trust me, Avelina. Please don't change the way you look at me."

She gave him a small smile and said, "See you in glee club." She walked away with a sigh, knowing she couldn't ask the same of him if he heard her confession.


	7. Bad

By the time Avi went to the choir room, she had put thoughts of her past behind her and was anxious to see the first duet performances.

Tina and Mercedes had chosen to do a song in memory of Whitney Houston. They sang "How Will I Know," appropriate since Mercedes was still conflicted about her feelings for Sam, and Tina could sing her portions of the song with the wisdom of having basked in true love for almost two years.

Blaine and Santana's rendition of Stand By Me was great, but Avi felt a little disconnected from it. Santana mostly sang to Brittany and Blaine directed himself to Curt. Now that she thought about it, Tina and Mercedes had done the same thing. It was a little surprising that Mr. Schu would allow that, since the group was supposed to be a show choir, training to play for big audiences, not a movie or television camera.

The next performers were Rory and Sam, singing the Croce classic of badass-itude and comeuppance. Sam sang the first few lines. Rory came in with the description of Leroy Brown. Avi stared. She hadn't heard Rory sing before and hadn't known that he was a baritone/bass. She loved lower voices. She had a physical reaction to them. She twisted in her seat and crossed her legs high up on her thighs, as if she were containing herself.

Individual instruction in some of the moves Sam had learned in the male revue had made Rory almost his equal in body rolls and hip flexes and during the chorus, they chose to jump into the air as they sang Bad, Bad, seeing who could go higher.

Avi was becoming aroused. She touched her face, and arms, ran her fingers in her hair, bit her lip and gawked.

She was beaming and a little flushed when Rory came to sit next to her. "Did you like that?" he asked.

"A lot," she said meaningfully. She mentioned that she had driven and asked Rory if he'd like to go to Breadsticks for dinner. In the restaurant it was her turn to pay more attention to her company than the food. She couldn't take her eyes off of his face, especially the mouth…

She loved her dad's old car because it had a long front seat, rather than bucket seats. She had Rory practically pinned to the passenger side door. He pushed her off of him slightly. "You're amazing," he said breathlessly. He took a picture of her in her disheveled, ardent state.

He turned her around and cradled her, stroking her hair and talking to her about his friends to whom he would send the shots he'd taken of her that day. He spoke about family, the area where he lived, all of the things they hadn't yet discussed.

Avi calmed down, lying back in his arms and listening to his voice. Finally he kissed her goodnight, told her to drive carefully and requested a text to know that she'd gotten home safely.

In his refurbished attic bedroom, Rory forwarded the pics to his brother and friends, smiled at the text message he received from Avi, then tried to study. He ended up drawing sketches of her.

He began to imagine her as Maria in West Side Story, then as Anita, then an Aztec princess, dripping with beads and flowers, then as Eve—no beads, fewer flowers, with a Celtic Adam.

"Knock knock," said Brittany, coming into his room with a couple of books. "It's time to studdle," she cooed, crawling onto the bed next to him.

Rory moved away from her. "No, Brittany," he said. "I have real studying I need to do."

Brittany looked at the books and papers strewn on the bed. "You've been assigned to draw Avi Lopez," she said with a sardonic toss of her blonde head.

He gathered the drawings. "We can still study together," he said, "but at the kitchen table, not in here or your room. Doesn't it bother you to think how Santana would feel if she knew about you and me?"

Brittany smiled guilelessly. "But we're not doing anything, just having fun. Santana knows I still like boys. If she thought about it, she'd probably choose you for me, instead of some of the other guys I might be with."

Rory shook his head disbelievingly. "I'm not doing this anymore. We can be friends, but that's all," he said firmly.

Brittany looked at him for almost a minute, realizing he meant what he said. "You're giving up a lot for Little Avi," she said, "but it's not close to what you're expecting her to give up."

Rory's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"If she likes you as much as you seem to like her, how do you think she's going to feel when you go back home? Of all the guys at school, you're probably the worst one for her to be involved with."

His forehead wrinkled in anger and hurt. "Why? She knows I plan to come back. We can pick up where we leave off," he said.

Brittany scoffed at that. "Oh, did you ask her to wait for you? Maybe you should just get her a chastity belt." She took on a more serious tone. "You can't guarantee that you'll be back, and after what she's been through, Avi needs something that she can count on."

Rory looked almost pleading. "What has she been through? Please tell me."

Brittany shrugged. "Santana wouldn't tell me, if that gives you an idea of how bad it was, but I've never seen her so mad."

"Santana and Puck have accepted us together," Rory pointed out.

Brittany fingered the hem of her Cheerio skirt, losing interest in the conversation. "They're just glad to see Avi happy. I don't care about that, but I have a better idea than they do of how bad she'll feel when you leave, because I know how sad that thought makes me."

Rory moved to look out the window. Brittany stood next to him and rested her head on his arm.

"Even if we don't know exactly what's happened to her, we know she's been hurt," Brittany reasoned, "and you're going to do even more damage to her."

Rory winced at those words.

Brittany picked up her books and strolled to the door, saying as she left, "If you change your mind, you know where I am."

He pressed his forehead against the cold window pane. Looking out into the blackness of the night, he imagined a dark hallway with open doors. Behind those doors were the dreams he'd had no more than fifteen minutes ago.

He reluctantly approached the first door. _No more Maria-slam! No more Anita-slam!_

Ahead of him loomed a massive iron door. He didn't want to reach it. He closed the others. _No more Eve, no more Aztec princess-slam!_

He stood in front of the iron door. It would take more effort to shut but when it did, it couldn't be reopened. He fell back on his bed and imagined that door closing with a thunderous sound.

With that he made his last heart-wrenching pronouncement—"No more Avi."


	8. Distance

First period French and ten minutes with Rory…second period calculus and ten minutes with Rory…third peri-

Avi looked up happily as Rory came to stand at the side of her bottom tier locker. "Hi, handsome," she said, rising to give him a kiss.

Instead he pushed his book bag into her arms. "Here," he said, "I've had too many tardies the last couple of days, so I can't be your book caddy anymore. I want you to use my satchel for your morning classes."

Avi was crestfallen. "I'm sorry," she said. "Thank you for the bag. That's very sweet of you."

Again she attempted to move close enough for a kiss and again he avoided it, this time by sidling away from her.

"I'll see you later today," he said, giving her a perfunctory kiss on the forehead and hurrying off down the hall.

Avi pouted as she put her texts and notebooks into the roomy bag and slung it over her shoulder. She began to feel somewhat better, as she so closely associated the bag and her books with Rory and their first meeting.

By the time she reached her first class, she was bouncy and jovial.

Angela asked her "Where's your Irish cutie?"

Clutching the bag, Avi said in mock-plaintive tone "This is all I have of him this morning. I've been messing with his perfect attendance record, so he's staying on his side of the building and I have to stay on mine."

Ang grinned as she pulled her own books out of her regular-sized backpack.

Avi asked, "So you think it will be safe to bring him to your party this weekend?"

"We'll see," said Ang, speaking warily.

Avi was optimistic. "He could sing. That should take care of all the girls there."

"Oh you think so?" Ang asked.

Smiling brightly Avi said "He can hypnotize with his eyes and..make them rejoice with his voice…internally rejoice," she added naughtily.

Ang looked pained. "Oh no, it's not your low voice thing again, is it? All those times you made me sit through Showboat just to hear "Ole Man River."

Still smiling, Avi leaned over in pseudo-confidence and whispered, "I hear he has a great falsetto too, but I haven't felt that yet."

"You mean heard it," Ang corrected her.

Wiggling in her chair and remembering Rory's singing, Avi said huskily "no, I mean felt."

Ang pushed Avi's chair away with her foot, saying "Get away, you slut."

Avi laughed cheerfully. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she sent Rory a text: _We have third period to look forward to._

She became a clock watcher, convinced that Figgins must be maliciously setting the time back every few minutes, because the bell for third period was never going to ring.

She practically jumped out of her seat when it did and was a little disappointed that Rory wasn't waiting at her classroom door. She stood in the crowded, then rapidly thinning hall, waiting for him, then hurried to her next classroom, thinking he was probably there looking for her. He wasn't, nor was he in Mr. Schuester's classroom.

Just as Avi was about to go to her own class, Rory came strolling down the hall. He apologized for being late. "Brittany said you and she are working on your number at lunch," he said.

Avi nodded, now becoming annoyed with his distance and what she saw as Brittany's intrusion.

He patted her on the back and said "Well, I'll see you for Glee then," and turned to walk into Schu's class.

She stood there for a moment in disbelief. _What happened to the beautiful boy from last night?_ She knew some creeps would give girls the silent treatment after sex, but never after just making out. Then her Lopez sass asserted itself. "Fine, if that's the way he wants it, I can ignore better than anybody," she announced to the lockers, flouncing into Ms. Martin's American Literature class.

In Schu's classroom, Rory was repeatedly beating his head on his desk. Not seeing her for the classroom breaks that had come to mean so much to him had been hard. But to physically shirk from her not once, but twice that morning, had taken all of his resolve, and he felt also a big chunk of his spirit. _I'm not good for her,_ he kept telling himself. _She needs somebody she can count on. I've proven that nobody can count on me._

Avi was thoroughly sour by the time she met Brittany for rehearsal. She was non-committal as Brittany showed her the dance moves she had devised for them and spoke as little as possible as they decided how to divide the song.

"You know, a little input wouldn't hurt," said Brittany.

Avi looked at her in mock surprise. "But aren't you used to telling people what to do, Madame President? I'm just another humble constituent."

Brittany was uncharacteristically angry. "What is your problem with me?"

Avi looked at her incredulously as she began her list "(a) You're supposed to be my sister's girlfriend and you've been fooling around with Rory. (b) You've been fooling around with Rory. (c) From what I can see, you're a lousy president."

Brittany looked puzzled.

Avi rolled her eyes. "These halls aren't safe for all students and what have you done about it? Kurt Hummel wanted to change things for people in this school and he might have. It might have been safe for Dave Karofsky to come back here. Instead he ended up trying to kill himself. Quinn is a friend of yours, but since she's been in the wheelchair, she's had to rely on the Skanks for protection. Have you done anything to enact policy against bullying, or even talked to the student body about it? Good people are becoming bullies because it's either that or be a victim. Why did you want to be class president anyway, just to get an extra picture in the yearbook?"

Brittany was speechless. She turned on her heel and left the choir room where they had been practicing.

Avi shook her head in disgust and resumed her day of irritation.

When she returned to the room for glee club, she went to Rory with his book bag. "I'm going shopping after school to get one of my own," she explained. "Thanks for letting me use yours today."

Rory could feel the distance between them, not only forced on his part, but now from her as well. "You keep it," he said softly, trying not to have his voice crack with pent-up emotion. "You might not be able to find one that will work for you."

Avi was looking for any sign that he actually cared and grasped that. "Would you like to go shopping with me?" she asked hopefully. "You might have a better idea of where I can find something like yours."

Rory lowered his eyes, unable to look at her anymore without giving in to his yearning for her. "Craig Kilgore is taking me home today," he explained. "We found out we had the same free period and got to talking, like you wanted us to. I'm going to introduce him to FIFA," he concluded, then sat down to break the almost-contact between them, as they'd both involuntarily moved closer to each other while talking.

"Oh." Avi said, on the verge of tears. "Well, have fun. Craig's a good guy." She moved quickly to sit on the other side of the room.

Her words rang in Rory's ears. Good guy was what she had called him that first day. For her it seemed to sum up boys, young men, whom she found particularly admirable. He knew he'd lost that designation in her mind. _I'm…not…good…for her…._


	9. You Belong with Me

Avi arrived in school the next morning feeling dejected but purposeful. She had found a bag just like Rory's and needed to give it to him.

She approached him tentatively. "I got a bag. If you don't mind, I'll give you the new one and keep your old one," she said.

Rory swallowed hard before speaking. "That's fine. I like this one more anyway (because you gave it to me)," he added under his breath. Whether or not he should risk hugging her, he was powerless to refrain from it.

He held her and whispered "You're very thoughtful" then quickly turned back to his locker.

"Rory…" Avi began softly.

He interrupted her. "If you'll excuse me, I have to call my brother," he said shortly.

Avi walked away dolefully . He looked after her, noticing how small she was, head down, with the enormous satchel banging against her leg. He slammed his locker door in fury and pounded through the hall in the other direction, angrily muttering to himself "I'm not good for her…"

Avi had talked to Angela the night before so her friend didn't press her for conversation when she slumped into her chair at the table they shared.

In second period Craig approached her, anxious to tell her about his evening at Rory's house. She attempted a smile and said "glad he likes one of us."

Craig was taken aback by that. "If you don't think he likes you, why waste your time worrying about him? You know you could have anybody in this school," he said.

With another sad smile she answered "But he's the one who could have me."

The infrequently-used intercom suddenly groaned to life and Figgins announced "Senior Class President, Brittany S. Pierce, has called a special meeting of all class officers today. You will meet for lunch in the courtyard at noon. That is all."

Craig asked Avi "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No," she said emphatically. "I mean…maybe," she added with a sigh. "I'll let you know. Thanks, Popeye." He patted her shoulder and took his seat.

Neither Rory or Avi attempted to catch the other on their way to third period class. She continued her lackluster attitude, occasionally looking up, as if she would penetrate the walls separating her from Rory, just to see what he was doing.

For his part Rory thought how light and insignificant the new bag felt without the weight of Avelina's books, like his life without her. He also looked over in the direction of her classroom, wishing for X-ray vision.

They avoided each other after class by instinctively turning in opposite directions. Neither really cared where they were going, anyway.

Just before glee club Avi changed into the black tights, and very short skirt, midriff-peeking top and four-inch heels for her duet with Brittany. It had been a while since she had worn a skirt that short and wasn't entirely comfortable, especially since she was so miserable. She tied her jacket around her waist and used the bag to help conceal the rest of her.

She took a seat in the choir room in the back row next to Santana. Brittany came in excited. She explained to the Lopez sisters that she had met with the class officers to talk about bullying. She planned to speak to the student body at the assembly next week and, since Santana had formed the Bully Whips the previous year and Avi had definite opinions on the subject, she wanted help from both of them in her new campaign against bullying. Avi was surprised and impressed and promised to help.

This was the last day of duets. Mike and Rachel performed to The Tango Maureen from Rent. He sang with more range than he ever had before, while leading Rachel in an elaborate dance.

Puck and Sugar's performance of Fine by Me was better than anyone might have expected, with her effectively harmonizing to his lead vocal and taking the main part of the bouncy choreography. The audience cheered for them and asked how they had managed to put together a number that fit them both so well.

Puck complimented Sugar on her dance talent and explained he learned that the trick was to limit her talking and singing so she'd have more control when she did. "This is the best way to do that," he said, suddenly swooping her into his arms and dipping her in front of everyone in a dramatic liplock.

Again there was cheering and Avi looked at the two of them fondly.

She and Brittany moved to the center of the room for their number. Rory's jaw dropped at the sight of Avi and mouthed the words "ideally proportioned…."

Avi was a natural entertainer with "the show must go on" mentality. She flirted with everyone in the room as she sang, running a finger under Artie's chin as she danced past him, touching the back of Sam's chair, engaging the other girls in harmonizing with her. She avoided Rory but noticed that Brittany didn't.

The cheerio performed in the way that Avi found so annoying, concentrating on just a couple of people in the room—Santana and, more surreptitiously, Rory. At the end of the song she mimicked the You Belong with Me video, bringing out a folded paper saying I Love You, which to Avi, it looked as though she flashed in front of Rory, before turning to Santana for a lingering look.

As the applause died down, Avi returned to her seat in disgust. Mr. Schu began individual consultations with some of the members and she used the opportunity to pull Brittany aside.

"It's bad enough that you embarrassed Santana with your attention to Rory but I was supposed to be your partner and you acted like that toward my..."

Brittany interrupted her. "Your what? Rory is nothing to you. He knows he can't be."

Avi was furious. "What did you say to him," she demanded, her dark eyes flashing.

Brittany looked a little sympathetic as she responded. "Just that you'd been hurt and you would be again when he left. I hope that doesn't keep you from helping me with the bullying thing. It's more important than any of our love lives."

Avi nodded in resignation. At least she knew now why Rory had been avoiding her and guessed it had been hard for him too. She had noticed the way he stared at her during her performance and thought she'd detected a reluctance to let her go when he'd hugged her at his locker that morning.

"What a sweetheart," she concluded, after thinking about it more and realizing Rory was torturing himself because he thought it would be better for her if he wasn't part of her life.

She kept glancing over at him, now so anxious to talk to him that she began watching the clock again. Only five more minutes of listening to Rachel and then...Schu finally dismissed them.

She rose purposefully and walked over to him. "Could I talk to you, Rory?"

He looked as though he was cornered. "Alright," he answered, maintaining as much space between them as he could without making her have to raise her voice. He then realized that gave him a full-length view of her, which was even harder to endure, so he moved just a little closer. But then he could smell the spicy and sweet scent of her. He finally flopped into a chair and looked down in complete frustration.

She smiled at his struggle and began speaking quietly so he had to give her his full attention to hear. "Brittany told me what she said to you."

Rory spoke up, hoping he could end the conversation quickly. "She's right. There's no one at this school worst for you than I am because there's no way I can keep from causing you pain."

She moved a little closer. "Well if you and Brittany are finished deciding what I need, I'd like for you to hear from me."

He lifted only his eyes, causing his forehead to wrinkle and his eyebrows to act independent of each other.

Avi was pacing in front of him now. "I had a bad experience in New York but I'm trying to not let it control what happens to me now. You were as different from all of that as anyone I could imagine. I wouldn't have been so drawn to you if you'd reminded me of it in any way. I knew from the beginning that you'd be leaving, at least for a couple of months, maybe a lot longer. And I'd rather have six or seven weeks with you than all of the time I could have with anyone else here. And when you leave, yes, I'll cry. Big deal. I've cried over lesser men. You had said you didn't have time for any misunderstandings and look at what you allowed to come between us. You have a lot to make up to me, Flanagan," she finished, stooping down in front of his chair.

He clumsily laid one of his hands on the side of her face and looked into her eyes. "You think I'm good for you," he asked hopefully.

"Yes," she answered confidently.

"And you don't think I'll end up hurting you?"

Avi shook her head. "No more than you have the last couple of days. Now, snog me the way you want to."

Rory smiled for the first time in two days as he dropped to the floor beside her. He stared for what seemed to her an interminable period then wrapped his arms around her and gave her a small kiss on the lips, followed by another, then a longer one, then another... Intensity built until Mr. Schu chased them out of the room.

They grabbed their identical bags and hurried out to find somewhere that they could continue their reconciliation.


	10. Making Up

Rory and Avi dropped their bags within feet of the choir room door to resume their shared oral examinations. Rory was beginning to see everything through a red haze of heat. He pulled away from her and shook his head to clear his mind. He didn't want any obstruction of the view of his Avelina, especially in that outfit.

It was the second time that day that he wished for x-ray vision. Avi allowed him a little time to look then slid her arms around him again.

He rested his head on the top of hers and held her tightly. "Oh, Avelina, I've missed you," he said breathily.

"It's your own damn fault," came her muffled reply from the cushion of his chest and arms. "Yours and Brittany's," she said, raising her head so she could breathe. "Don't let her do that again, Rory."

He didn't have so far to look down on Avi with her high heels. "I won't," he promised, lowering his head the short distance to whisper in her ear "I like having a little buckeye."

He was rewarded with another smile and kiss.

"Can you do me a favor," he asked. "Leave your satchel at home tomorrow. I want to carry your books again. I missed them almost as much as you."

She decided to take that as a compliment. "So you want to be my book caddy again," she asked.

"I'll be your book slave," Rory stated fervently. "I'll carry them in my mouth, crawling on all fours, if you want me to."

Avi giggled. "We can consider it your initiation- to Team Rorvi," she said.

"Where do I sign," he asked. "I definitely want to be a member."

"Membership does have its privileges," she said saucily.

Rory smiled widely. "Are you being as suggestive it sounds," he asked.

"This time yes," she answered.

Suddenly Santana and Brittany appeared from around the corner.

"There you are, Avi. Let's go. We're having company tonight, remember," said her big sister.

"Oh yes, the mystery guest," Avi said.

She and Rory hadn't taken their eyes off of each other during that exchange. "Goodnight, awesome alien," she said to him. He answered with "Good night, luscious Liman."

With one last smile she turned toward Santana. "Well come on," she said. "We don't want to keep the mystery guest waiting."

Still smiling, Rory turned to join Brittany for a ride to their house.

In the car she asked "What happened to your staying away from Avi for her own good?"

He chuckled. "She has her own ideas of what's good for her and I like them better than the ones that would keep me from her."

Brittany shrugged resignedly as she entered the traffic flow.

Rory looked at her for a few seconds then said "I told Santana about our studdle sessions."

She looked over in surprise. "You did?"

He nodded. "I promised her I would stop them if she didn't make trouble for me and Avelina. As much as she loves her sister and hates me, it's easier for her to see Avelina with me, than to imagine us together." Brittany was non-committal.

Rory sighed in irritation. "She really loves you, Brittany. If you don't feel the same way, don't you think it's time to tell her?"

Brittany concentrated on her driving and didn't answer.

Rory's phone buzzed with a text message. It was from Brian. "Your friend Dylan just got dumped by his girlfriend for another lad. He's ripe for recruitment. Make sure you talk to him."

Rory rolled his eyes. Brian was getting a little ridiculous on this subject. Dylan ripe for recruitment? He'd have at least three new girls on his arm in a few days.

He responded. "I'll get him online tonight." Thinking about that and looking over at Brittany, Rory had an idea. "I need to talk to Maria online."

On the drive to Lima Heights Avi was ebullient talking about Rory and how they'd resolved things. "You should give him a chance, Santana. He's really a good guy," she said.

Santana gave a small smile as they turned onto their street. "We'll see," she said unconvincingly.

Avi looked toward the house and gasped. "Santana, it's Abuela's car!"

Santana slammed down on the brakes and stared at the car in the driveway, seemingly unable to move.

Avi tried to nudge her but she couldn't penetrate the self-protective trance Santana seemed to have entered. Avi put the gear shift in park position and removed the keys from the ignition. She walked around to the driver's side and gently pushed Santana over so that she could drive home.

In the driveway Avi gave Santana words of encouragement and understanding until Santana began to respond. Avi flashed the secret sister sign and said "Come on. We'll do this together."

Hand-in-hand the Lopez girls approached their house and family within.


	11. Don't Sit Under the Osage Orange Tree

**_a/n The great split-trunk osage tree is real. For this story it's on virtual loan from my area to Lima, which doesn't have one of its own_**

Getting off the bus and walking the short distance to Avi's house Saturday morning, Rory was buoyant. Friday had been an almost perfect day.

A great lunch with Avi, during which she had told him with happy tears about the reconciliation of Santana and their abuela. "She cried and said she loved her and she's heard from some of her friends about their gay children and grandchildren, so she knows she's not the only one. It's going to be okay," Avi had said with relief.

Avi had even arranged a double date with Puck and Sugar that hadn't been terrible. She hated loose ends and estrangement.

The only mar had been the news from Brian that Dylan, his friend from school, had cut himself off from everyone. But Brian was resigned about it, rather than irate. "He might have already done so when you were unable to reach him before. Don't blame yourself," his older brother had said. "Maybe it won't last long. We'll hope for the best."

Rory wasn't going to let that spoil the day he had planned with Avi. He had told her to prepare for a long walk to a secret destination.

He smiled when he saw her. She was a great dancer but not sporty, as he knew from the times he had snuck into the gym for her class during his free period. She had prepared for this exercise by getting water bottles and snacks for them in her old backpack. And she was wearing a track suit. "Let's go Little Sue Sylvester," he said, taking her hand.

It was hard for either of them to believe that they'd only known each other for a few days. They were so compatible and already had so many little quirks in their relationship—the alliterative good nights, their musical bond and especial appreciation of each others' voice types, and, of course, the books and bag(s) that had started it all.

Everything just felt as though it had fallen into place. There was still so much to learn about each other but it all seemed so light-hearted.

There was the New York issue yet to be addressed, but Avi didn't bring it up and Rory didn't want to do or say anything that might take the smile off of her face.

"This is your secret destination?" Avi asked as they approached the old settlement, with its reconstructed log cabins and cemetery. "I used to come here all the time. All the kids do to play on the tree."

The tree was an enormous osage orange, over 200 years old but still budding. The trunk had split too far back for anyone to remember and the tree had continued growing out, rather than up, and was like a natural set of monkey bars.

The couple crawled over and around its branches, polished smooth from centuries of play, and joined the kids there in a game of tag. Rory took a lot of pics of Avi. They got lunch from the concession stand. Rory grinned as they stood in line to place their order, wondering what picky-eater Avi would eat from there (plain cheeseburger and fries).

They had just finished lunch when a tall red-haired girl appeared to be sneaking up on Rory. Avi looked in astonishment as the girl indicated for her to shssh and then put her hands over Rory's eyes.

"Hello, Maria," he said, and the girl kissed the side of his face.

Avi was on the point of rage. The seriously pretty girl sat down next to Rory and, looking at her, said "You must be Avelina. Rory hasn't been able to stop talking or writing about you."

_There had better be an explanation coming and it had better be go-od_, thought Avi to herself in a warning singsong.

Rory began. "I met Maria here. She's part of FOO, Friends of the Osage Orange. They make sure the tree is cared for."

Not at all appeased yet, Avi said "Yeah, I know about FOO. I'm from here, remember? My family makes donations to care for the tree." _There better be more explanation coming_, she continued thinking.

Maria took up the story, smiling as she looked fondly at the Irishman. "Rory actually asked me out before he learned I'm not interested in guys. He's still one of my favorite people though."

"You're gay," Avi said with more than relief. Maria nodded. _Thank God,_ thought Avi. She didn't want any more competition for Rory and this girl with her mile-long legs could have been stiff competition.

"Right on time," said Rory, looking down the path to where Santana was walking toward them. "I called Santana and told her you were tired and needed a ride home," he explained.

Santana walked slowly, with drooping head. Avi realized that she had been like that all week. "Let's go, Avi," Santana said listlessly.

The redhead spoke up "Hi, I'm Maria. You're Santana Lopez, right? I've wanted to meet you for a long time, ever since the congressional campaign. I was really impressed with how you handled being outed by that sleazy candidate."

"Thanks," said Santana half-heartedly.

Maria continued "I sent a lot of friend requests to you but you didn't respond. Maybe I should have sent a picture?"

Now Avi got it. She looked at Rory, who was wearing a pleased-with-himself grin. "Maria, are you flirting with my sister?"

"I'm trying," Maria answered.

Santana looked up into the young woman's light brown eyes. She noticed the t-shirt emblazoned with the spreading tree that Maria was wearing. "So you're a friend of the tree," she said. "I used to be a junior Foo."

Maria smiled. "You should join us now. We're going to be pruning the baby in a little while."

Before Santana could say no, Avi jumped up. "That's a good idea. Santana, if you want to give me the car keys, I'll go home now. We have to get ready for a party later."

Santana handed over the keys with two fingers crossed, a variation of their secret sign. The sisters shared a look that spoke volumes…

…_.you shouldn't have done it…  
><em>…_I didn't; Rory did…  
><em>…_he needs to mind his own business…  
><em>…_what's wrong. Isn't she pretty enough for you…  
><em>…_it's not that….  
><em>…_you should be happy and know that the person you're with isn't looking at guys…  
><em>…_whatever…  
><em>…_you're welcome. We're leaving..._

"It was nice to meet you, Maria," said Avi.

Rory rose also, saying to Maria, "Talk to you soon."

Avi took Rory's arm and they left the young women to get acquainted. "And I thought I was good at hookups. I could take lessons from you."

He was still very pleased with himself. "I'm sure there are a lot of things you could learn from me," he said.

It suddenly occurred to them that they were behind on their daily kissing quota. They stopped in the middle of the parking lot to catch up and were able to achieve mean after a little time in the car.

Rory ran his hand on the outside of Avi's leg and said with a chuckle. "Right then, take me home and go change for the party. I've made out with Coach Sue enough for one day."


	12. Cutest Couple

_**a/n I know that 15 year-olds can get learner's permits in OH but don't know if that privelege extends to foreign-exchange students with temporary residency. I also doubt that a horny 16 year-old girlfriend would qualify as a supervisory driver. But it's Saint Patrick's Day. Let the Irish lad drive**_

More than a little tipsy, Brittany weaved over and put her arms around Rory and Avi. "This is my vote for cutest couple at this party," she slurred. "It would have been Santana and me but she changed her mind about coming. Do you know anything about that, Avi?"

Avi truthfully answered, "I haven't seen her since this afternoon."

Craig then came to greet them and Brittany sidled next to the muscle-bound star athlete. "Let's dance, you big, bad bully." She led him to the middle of the brightly-lit room. All of the furniture had been pushed against the walls to accommodate the couples who were bouncing to the pounding music.

Avi turned to Rory, smiling in what she hoped was a persuasive way. "So I promised some of the girls that you'd sing for them."

"What!"

She nodded. "See that gaggle of pretty geese in the other room? That's your audience."

Rory put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face the large number of boys across the room. "See that band of not-so-pretty gorillas much closer? That's my execution squad."

Avi waved off his concerns. "My reading on the room is that it'll be okay."

"Oh, you read rooms, do you? "

"Yes," she answered with a nod, "I read rooms—theater training, instinct. I know what I'm talking about. "

He looked down on her with amusement. "Alright. How do you think it will be okay?"

Avi confidently outlined what she thought would happen. "The girls will flip; the guys won't be able to ignore you. They'll be a little jealous, especially when they see how I react to you. But they won't take any action against you. They'll probably start singing to make fun of you. And you, of course, will be really cool about it and it'll be okay."

He raised his chin, as if studying her from a new angle. "Has that happened here before?"

She conceded "Not here but in about the same setting. The singer wasn't as cool about it as you'll be and he didn't have me."

Rory smiled indulgently. "Well I can see how that would make all the difference." He was curious now to see if things would unfold the way Avelina seemed to think they would. "Alright," he said, "let's test your room-reading skills."

Avi led him by the hand into the other room where Angela and about ten other girls were waiting to see if Rory could live up to the hype from Avi.

"Ladies," she began formally, "as promised, an Irish Idol."

Rory grinned disarmingly. "Anything for Avi," he said with a wink. "Is there a particular song you want?" he asked her.

Avi put her arms around his neck. "You know what day it is and you know what we want to hear."

Rory looked at her and realized for the first time that the dress he had noticed earlier just for its hypnotic clinging was a beautiful shade of green. At the end of her dangling earrings were tiny shamrocks. He smiled then began "_Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are callin'_"

Avi sat with the other girls. She wondered if she would ever be able to listen to him sing without palpitation. Yes, she loved low voices, but Rory's was deep without being sonorous. _Like he's singing with honey in his mouth,_ she said to herself, _ohh, that honey mouth!_

Again she crossed her legs high up on her thighs as if to contain herself. _I shouldn't be getting turned on listening to a song about a father and son's final farewell during the Crimean War. I shouldn't—but I am._

She looked around and saw some of the other girls were fidgeting almost as much as she, while others appeared to be frozen in rapture. Some of the boys were standing in the doorway.

She was smug that she'd been right as she walked up to Rory for the last few lines. He had chosen to sing sitting in a chair with his legs straddling it and his arms resting on the back, like Finn did when he sang to Santana. She moved behind him and snuggled against his back. "Go to falsetto," she whispered.

Again he complied. With the last note the girls exclaimed, Avi sat on his half-lap and pulled his head down for a kiss, the boys sneered a little and grouped in the main room. Soon the girls heard a loud, flat chorus of "Oh, Danny Boy, oh, Danny Boy..." from the adjacent room.

Avi led the group in there, where the boys were over-dramatically singing. She took Rory's hand and they joined them. Avi stood between Ricky and one of his minions and began swaying. Rory threw his arm around Craig, who began an effective harmony.

At the end of that, Avi began singing the school's fight song and of course the athletes joined in. She noted approvingly that Rory was paying attention to individual voices.

When the impromptu sing-along ended, Rory was able to laugh with the others, rather than being laughed at. He and Avi exchanged a look that acknowledged her dead-on instincts and said "told you."

They met in the center of the room and he put his arms around her. He saw the smolder in her eyes she'd had that night after he'd done the duet with Sam.

"Are you ready to go?"

She nodded. She rushed through her thank you and good night to Angela and some other people and left, clearly excited. Rory saw that he was going to have to take control of the situation.

He had recently obtained his OH learners permit, so he drove them to the mini-park a couple of blocks from the Pierces' house.

He moved to the center of the car's bench seat and positioned Avi on his lap and began slowly kissing her. It soon became obvious that she was in a much faster gear.

He was breathless as he said, "Beautiful, fiery girl—how will you ever be satisfied with a cold, traditional Irishman?"

In answer she asked, "Where do they keep you, Rory—in the basement, in a room next to Brittany's? Is that your light I've seen from the attic? I'll find you."

He placed her head under his chin and said with a sigh, "Please don't come looking, Avelina. I could not hold back."

"That's the idea, choirboy," she said teasingly.

"No," Rory said while pulling her closer and giving her mixed signals, "…not when we only have a few weeks. But when I come back," he finished with a low growl, "it's on."

She looked a little disappointed. He added, "In the meantime I'll kiss you every chance I get and try to control my hands."

She leaned against him comfortably. "Don't try too hard. Okay, if that's the way you want it, I can wait as long as you. In two weeks you'll be begging for me."

He grinned. "I'm sure it will be less time than that, but this is important to me. "The promise of you is what's going to bring me back. I'll do anything to make it happen."

He began lightly flicking one of her earrings. "Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yes, did you?"

"More than I thought I might," he said. "I like watching you work. You're very calculating in a subtle, charming way."

She surprised him by asking, "Did you find any possible recruits?"

He answered. "A couple, maybe. Craig has nice tone. How did you know that's what I was listening for?"

She hunched her shoulders and began another detailed explanation. "I assume Finn has talked to you about that. When the seniors leave, there will only be a few of us, and he's chosen you as his replacement as leader."

Rory shook his head. "Blaine will be the leader."

She continued. "He'll be the technical leader because of his showmanship, but you'll be the one everyone will listen to and follow and who will be able to draw new members. Does that make me Rachel?"

Rory laughed lightly. "Yes, you'll be the new, improved Rachel—much less annoying and much more adorable."

He saw that she was settled enough now to drive safely. He moved back to the driver's side. "I'm going to walk to clear my head. Will you let me know when you've gotten home?"

She nodded. He opened the door and she slid behind the wheel.

"Good night, Latin lovely."

Avi pouted. "I already used the one I'd planned for you." She thought for a moment while Rory stood in the doorway grinning. "Good night, gorgeous Gaelic," she said triumphantly.

He smiled. "We'll soon run out of those."

She shook her head. "I'll make a list. I like it."

"Then I will to," he said, hovering over her for the last kiss of the night.

Driving home Avi was absent-mindedly singing "Oh, Rory Boy, oh, Rory Boy, I lo—"

She caught herself and put her hand to her mouth. It was way too soon to be thinking like that. But she loved the way he looked and his under-stated humor. He was so sweet and he'd proven how much he cared in being willing to cut himself off from her when he came to the stupid conclusion that he wasn't good for her. He'd even found what seemed to be the perfect girl for Santana. She loved the way he kissed and the way he sang and the way he made her feel.

Smiling to herself, she decided...why not? She was young and protected now and she wanted to give in to the feeling, even if she kept it to herself.

In the confines of the car she loudly resumed her song "Oh, Rory Boy, I love you soooooo."


	13. Zero Tolerance

The next two weeks were eventful for the entire school. Brittany and her council had launched their anti-bullying program, trying to impress on the students that they could have their own zero-tolerance policy by not ignoring incidents when they saw them.

They staged some episodes to demonstrate. Craig cooperated. It was believable to the student body because he had developed the reputation as a bully. When he was seen with a slushie, Brittany and some other members of the council insisted that he drink it and encouraged others in the hall at the time to join them. Then he shoved Kurt into a locker. Avi, Rory and others they had enlisted loudly called him on it and forced him to help Kurt up and apologize to him. The people who witnessed that also became part of it.

Avi actually credited Craig with the idea. She said it was mob mentality turned for good. The typical school bully can't succeed without indifference from the majority. They were making it un-cool to be indifferent.

The final test came when Craig got another reformed bully to begin brow-beating a random student in a busy corridor and the students there, on their own, without the instigation of any of the conspirators, forced him to stop.

On a personal level, Rory's birthday was approaching and Avi was planning a special number for him. She had found a flesh-toned gown at a second-hand store and, with the help of the glee girls and Kurt, Angela and some other friends, sewed and glued sequins and beads on it, transforming it into a shimmering gold showpiece. Kurt had removed the straps and helped her insert stays and he had cut slits so that in any position, she showed a lot of leg.

Rory was excited when she told him about this present and arranged with the A-V department for the use of some equipment so that he could broadcast the performance to his family in Ireland.

Avi had involved so many people in this performance that she was taking a real chance if she should fail. Puck was in charge of the lights.

Rory made a simple introduction to his family, the room went dark and Avi stepped into the spotlight. The dress sparkled but no more than she herself. Her black hair was in ringlets and waves on one side of her head, with a big white flower behind the other ear. Her smile was radiant as she stood next to the piano and said simply "Happy Birthday, Rory."

Brad began with a run of the piano keys and, leaning over and showing a great deal of her breasts, Avi tapped the last tinkling key.

Rory placed his finger on the control button for the A-V equipment. Avi sang…

"_When Irish eyes are smiling…_

He had heard sing sweetly and dramatically and playfully, but never like this. This was sultry, almost erotic, and he did not want his family to be introduced to Avi in this way. He pushed the button to stop the broadcast.

Avi had strategically placed a step-up next to the piano so that she could lift herself onto it. She crossed her exposed legs and leaned back a little, creating a dramatic angle.

Rory wasn't as entranced as she would have hoped. Of course he was aroused, but he knew he wasn't the only one. Frowning, he looked over to the musicians. Since they weren't playing, they could give all of their concentration to Avi, especially the lead guitarist, who was staring so hard, he could have grown a third eye. He looked up and saw Puck in the back row lick his lips. In fact the only male in the room who seemed not to be affected was Kurt.

She finished the last line, slinking down from the piano, dipping and rising slowly as she stretched out the lyrics. It had been a nearly perfect interpretation of the classic tune into a torch song.

As she finished she looked in Rory's direction with a loving smile, then to the girls for approval. They clapped enthusiastically. The guys hadn't yet recovered.

Mr. Schuester wisely asked Artie to get the lights. As they came on, Puck came out of his stupor to turn off the spotlight.

"That was…great, Avi," Schu managed to say.

Avi took a seat next to Rory. "Did you like it?" she asked happily.

"I'm human. I couldn't help but like it," Rory answered shortly, "along with every other lad in the room and those who passed by the window. You attracted quite a crowd."

Avi's face fell. "But I did it for you," she said in a trembling, hurt voice.

Schu tried to regain control of the class. "Blaine, didn't you have a song?"

Blaine crossed his legs. "Maybe someone else should go next," he said uncomfortably. Kurt glanced at him with surprise and mild disgust.

Santana rose. "Oh for God's sake, and they call woman the weaker sex. At least we can't be incapacitated by a singer. Great job, Avi. It's too bad the birthday boy doesn't seem to have appreciated it," she said, giving Rory a scathing look. "Watching my little sister prepare for this for the last _two weeks_, I was inspired to transform a song myself. So, band, if you can handle your instruments, hit it."

She sang a growly, rock version of American Honey and sneered at Rory as she returned to her seat.

Blaine was by then able to perform a slow, soulful rendition of the now ironic Four Seasons song, Walk Like a Man.

Possibly the most awkward session New Directions ever had finally ended, with everyone exiting quickly, leaving only Rory and Avi. He sat with his arms crossed in cold silence and she looked and felt wilted.

With a heavy, heart-broken sigh she rose to leave.

"Wait," said Rory. She turned hopefully. He took off his shirt, leaving himself in a t-shirt, and handed it to her. "You shouldn't go out of here like that."

Avi couldn't believe this was happening. She stood looking at him, silently pleading for an explanation.

Rory paced. "Congratulations, Avi," he said sarcastically, "If you didn't already know it, now you know that you can, what was Santana's word?...incapacitate…an entire room…even a gay guy…even your 'big brother' Puck. I always knew that was tripe."

Avi was different from Santana when they were hurt. Santana would be angry and defiant. Avi would try to get at the root cause of the pain and repair it. She tried to do so now by reasoning with Rory.

"It was your birthday present," she said. "I wanted to be seductive for you."

"Then you should've done it for just me, not the whole damned school," he said loudly. "But that's your theater training, I guess. Like you said, you perform for a whole room, not just one person. You really learned your lessons in New York," he threw out as he stomped out of the room.

Avi gasped. _He doesn't know what he's saying,_ she said to herself. _He doesn't know what happened,_ the part that had tried reasoning said to her. "Then he shouldn't have said anything, the Celtic creep," said the vocal part that was more similar to her big sister.

That was the part she now embraced, as she went into Mr. Schu's office and found what she was looking for—a pair of scissors.

Rory was angrily throwing books into his locker. He didn't see what everyone else did—Avi in high temper, clacking toward him in her high heels, the dress reduced to a little more than two feet of spangles covering her.

'Here," she said tossing Rory's shirt at him, "I don't wear plaid." Every pair of eyes that had followed her as she made her way to him now witnessed their spat and her flouncing away.

Watching her head for the girls' restroom, Rory barked, "At least it was long before."

"Well it isn't now, is it!" she shouted back, throwing out her hip and hiking the skirt even higher.

She flung the door of the restroom open and stamped in to change and give in to angry tears.

Rory slammed the door of his locker shut, then turned around and banged the back of his head against it. (If he should ever develop brain damage, he would have to think about his often frustrating year in Ohio as a contributing factor.)

He pulled out his buzzing phone and read the text message. He raised his eyes heavenward and steeled himself for what he needed to do next. It was the end of the day so it wasn't as significant as it might otherwise have been. He entered the inner sanctum—the girls' restroom.


	14. Flattery

The only other girl who was in the white-tiled restroom scurried out as Rory entered. "Avelina," he called.

"Get out of her, Flanagan!" she shouted from the stall.

He turned to face the door. "I had no right to talk to you that way. I'm so sorry. You're a wonderful singer and you were so pretty. I should have been flattered that you wanted to do that for me."

Avi was pulling on her regular clothes as she listened to him. She could hear the genuine regret in his voice, but this was a lot to forgive.

"I am flattered," he added. "I'm also disgusted with myself. It takes a special kind of fool to ruin his own birthday present, the way I did. And this was a present like no other." He looked down and picked up the flower that had fallen from Avi's hair.

The apology wasn't that hard. He'd known the minute he'd acted so stupidly that he would have to eat crow. Now he was down to the hard part. "Avelina, I need for you to come to the library with me. My Mam and Dad want to talk to both of us on Skype. I know you're still upset with me but, please come. I'll wait for you outside."

She came out of the stall when she heard him leave. She stood at the mirror and touched up her makeup. It wasn't perfect, but that was a good first effort at an apology. She was curious to see what else he had to say.

Rory was at the door, looking very contrite. He took Avi's hands. "Sometimes I can't believe you like me," he said hesitantly. "It could just as easily be anyone in the choir room who was drooling over you or even one of these characters," he said, indicating the athletes who had stayed in the hall, hoping for another look of Avi in that dress.

"I've never really been jealous before, but when I saw you and knew how others would react to you, I lost any good sense I have."

Avi smiled in spite of herself.

Rory put his hand on the side of her face. "If I want the best girl in this school (and I do) I have to be ready to share. Everyone wants a small part of Avi Lopez. Everyone gets to look. I can live with that," he said, lowering his arms to her waist, "as long as I'm the only one who gets to do this."

He pulled her close in a warm hug. She responded, wrapping her arms around him. He bent to give her a little kiss on her lips. She didn't pull away so he gave her a second one.

"You're so sweet to forgive me," he said, keeping his face close to hers. "I can't forgive myself for turning off that recording. I could have had that to watch you all my life. Now I'll have to be satisfied with what's burned into my mind. You sang like an angel. And the way you looked, Avelina" he said, placing the flower back behind her ear.

He began to kiss her while talking. "Your legs…your hair falling on your shoulders…your…ideal proportions," he said with a grin, just before placing his mouth on hers again for his most aggressive kiss yet.

He had completely forgotten about the others in the hall. Most of them were stunned. They had convinced themselves that the Irishman was like a pet for Avi, willing to do whatever she commanded of him, just for the scraps that she might throw his way. They saw though that he could be angry with her and she would respond with anger. Then they would, for cryin' out loud, make up in front of an audience.

A few standing there gaping had kissed Avi in the past, a couple just over the last summer. But none had ever seen her like this. She tangled her fingers in his hair, wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer, pressed against him. They could hear her purring, in effect, asking for more…from _him_.

Wearing an amused expression, Craig finally cleared his throat and the couple remembered that they weren't alone. Rory looked as though he was ready for a fight and instinctively clenched his fists. Avi smiled broadly. "Skype, Rory," she said, taking his hand and leading him through the onlookers.

She slowed as they approached the library. "Are they going to be as disgusted with me as you were?" she asked him nervously.

Rory chuckled, "You don't have to worry about that," he said, showing her the text message he had received:

_Rory Michael, what have you done? You get that darling girl now. We want to talk to you both._

"You need to protect me from my Mam."

Avi giggled with relief. "I'll tell her she can't stay mad at someone who kisses like you, if you do it again," she said teasingly.

"We need to hurry now before the library closes," Rory said anxiously. "Can you remind me later?"

"Now you owe me two kisses," she said with a pout. "It builds interest."

"You know all about building interest," Rory said. He took advantage of their being within sight of the library to pick her up and run with her the rest of the way.

"Sixteen and showing off," she said with her customary gaiety.

In the library Rory set up the camera then sent a text to his family that they were ready. And the connection was made.

The first to appear was Rory's mother, still pretty but becoming a little blowsy in middle age. "Hello, Darlin', is Avelina with you?"

"Yes, ma'am, I'm here, said Avi," sitting in the chair with Rory so that they could both be seen.

His mother registered a small intake of breath. "My Lord, you are pretty," she said, "even on this camera that makes the rest of us look like gargoyles."

Avi gave a small laugh. "I think you look lovely, Mrs. Flanagan."

"Call me Margaret, Dear," she said. She addressed herself to Rory. "What happened to the video? We were all gathered around, anxious to watch it and there was good picture and sound. We heard one line of her song and it went dead."

Rory looked down momentarily. "Wel,l no equipment is completely reliable." Avi nudged him in the ribs.

Margaret gave him a sidelong glance. "You tell that to your father."

And Mr. Flanagan appeared on screen. "Hello, Rory, my boy. I have some idea how you might have felt. We Flanagan men don't like sharing our women. But you've done like me and chosen a jewel—one that is meant to flash and sparkle and be shown off."

Avi stared at the man from whom Rory got his looks, a little amazed at the effortless poetry in his words. _Rory gets it honest,_ she said to herself.

Mr. Flanagan continued, "We thought it might be a good idea for you to see that you aren't the only one in this family who has had that dilemma."

"And you make sure he watches every second of it, Avelina," added Margaret.

There was some fumbling and muttering on the Irish end then—a video of a young, sexy Margaret, in a hot pink satin-like gown, singing Material Girl. Grinning uncomfortably, Rory tried to cover his eyes, but Avi pulled his hands down from his face and placed her head next to his. He groaned at the point that his mother sang "huh, huh" and jutted her chest forward.

Avi smiled dotingly. Her mind involuntarily wandered to thoughts of her recording, if it hadn't been interrupted, being shown to their son in 20 years….She shook her head to clear her mind of that idea.

Finally Rory's torture ended. Avi clapped. Margaret appeared back on screen, blushing.

"Well I'm not the singer that you are," she said to Avelina, "but that was good enough to place second in the 1986 city-wide talent show…and to get this lout to propose," she said, looking fondly at Rory's father.

"It was wonderful," Avi said enthusiastically.

Margaret smiled. "Thank you, dear. I hope I get a chance to see yours again, if you can be persuaded, and my son won't be such a stick in the mud."

Avi smiled and nodded haltingly, thinking about the dress that she had ruined.

The Flanagans turned their attention to Rory. "Happy birthday, sweet boy—we love you and miss you. In the background was a loud chorus of "Happy birthday, you plonker," and the screen went black.

Avi cuddled closer. "You have a wonderful family, Rory."

"You think so?"

She looked up at him. "They're adorable. And you're a-rorable." The wordplay came easily to both of them now.

"Roll it for me," he said huskily, preparing to repay his kiss debt.

Just before their lips met she murmured enticingly "arrrrrorrrrable".


	15. Comfort Level

Kurt was as appalled as Avi knew he would be when she told him what she'd done to her torch singer dress. "Can it be fixed?" she asked. "Rory's parents want me to do the number again since they didn't see it yesterday."

"How in the world do you think it could be fixed!" he exclaimed. "Do you think you can just sew through all of the beads? And just imagine the seam!"

Avi looked down diffidently. "Well, no," she said hesitantly. "I was thinking maybe Velcro?"

Kurt put his hands on either side of his head and squeezed, as if he were preventing it from exploding. Rory spoke bawdily, "Velcro sounds good. I can just tear it away after you've finished."

The older boy gave him a disdainful look. "Since the damage is already done, I suppose…that substance…(he couldn't say the word) will work as a one-time fix and be convenient for Rory." He rubbed his forehead. "Just don't expect me to help with it."

Avelina looked so sad. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I feel awful. The dress was so beautiful and I really enjoyed working with you on it."

Kurt softened in face of her contrition, giving a slight smile and lowering his voice to a tender tenor. "Well, you make an excellent paper doll to dress. Maybe we can work on another project, like a prom dress," he said with a sidewise glance at Rory.

She gave him a light hug. "Thank you," she said simply.

Kurt picked up his books and left the choir room with Blaine, who winked with a sly smile at the couple. Mr Schu called Avi and Rory into his office.

He sat behind his desk, boring his blue eyes into them, looking more like an authority figure than he ever had before. "First, I believe you realize, Avi, that the song you did yesterday was too…mature for you as a performer and for your audience, as well."

Rory sat on the edge of his seat to defend her. "How was it too mature for her? She sang it perfect. It's not her fault that some of us couldn't control ourselves. I've seen people in that choir room try to be hot before. Avelina was just more successful at it than anyone else."

Avi gave him an affectionate look and took his hand. "Thank you, Rory, but Mr. Schu is right. I wanted to do something iconic and it didn't work. Torch singers are supposed to make people feel they're untouchable, but that's not me. I guess that's why there weren't many Latin women who did that kind of music. I can't be a cool blonde."

She and Mr. Schu shared a look of understanding while Rory shook his head, still unwilling to accept Avi's censure.

"The other thing I need to talk to you about, along the same lines, is that some of the faculty are worried that the two of you are too openly affectionate."

Now Avi took offense. "We're not anymore demonstrative than other couples," she said, "and less so than some."

Schu acknowledged that with a nod. "That's true, but most of those couples have known each other longer than a month," he said. "The two of you just went from 0 to 60 so fast, it makes people a little uncomfortable."

The traditional Irishman sat quietly. He felt very natural responding to Avi the way he did when he was with her. But sometimes when they were apart, he realized how uncharacteristic his behavior was for him.

Avi looked over at Rory and sensed that's what he was feeling. The task of defending them had to fall to her…this time.

She took a deep breath then looked directly at Schu."Not that it's yours or any other teacher's business, but ours is the only relationship in school with such a definite time limit. It might seem to you that we're burning the candle at both ends, but we've already placed so many limitations on ourselves, we don't need more from people who don't realize that."

Rory grinned at her proudly and found his own voice. "That's right, Mr. Schu. We might be intense, but we're also very respectful of each other and just want to be happy together. We could be a normal couple, except that I have to go back to Ireland and we've had issues with family, people have tried to break us up…and everything else. There's no reason for people to be uncomfortable but if they are, maybe they should have asked us about it, instead of deciding we needed a lecture."

_Wow,_ thought Avi, _that's almost as good as listening to him sing._ Mr. Schu better finish quickly or she would probably end up justifying their concern.

The teacher smiled and ran his hand over his tight, sandy curls. "You have a point. Actually I do think you're an appealing couple…with great voices. So I wanted to offer you the duet for Nationals."

Rory and Avi looked at each other in surprise and elation.

Schu continued. "I've spoken to Finn and Rachel. Since Finn sees you as his replacement or it could be your last chance if you don't get to come back, he's willing to give up the duet. Rachel is fine with that if she has a solo. Tina's singing with the Troubletones and everyone else will be featured in the group numbers. The duet will be your only exposure. I just want to know though that we won't have a repeat of last year."

Avi spoke again. "I was at the competition in the audience last year. I saw how unprofessional that kiss between Finn and Rachel was and how awkward it made everyone feel. I would never do anything like that."

"Right," said Rory. "We can show people our vast appreciation for each other without making anyone uncomfortable."

Avi nodded in agreement. "I can promise you that we'll have the audience rooting for Team Rorvi."

Schu smiled again. "Good. So you two start thinking about what you want to sing. Let me know if you need any help. I'd like to take a look at what you've come up with in a week."

They grinned at him and left the room excitedly. They were just feet from his door when their excitement manifested itself in more kissing.

Schu knocked on his window to shoo them away and smiled at their retreating figures. He sat down to grade papers. His fiance Emma soon came to the door for them to go home.

"Well there's the pretty half of Team Schuebury."He rose and took her in his arms, nuzzling his face in her light ginger hair. "You know, I don't think I've shown lately my vahst appreciation for you."

He caught the prim, timid woman by surprise. Her response was very un-Emma like and would have made Rorvi, Finchel and certainly other members of the faculty, very uncomfortable.


	16. New York Story

"So the whole group is in rows and you slide out from one end and start singing, then I do from the other. We meet center stage for the number and slip back into formation at the end. It'll be like it never happened," Avi explained carefully.

"Or a brief moment for members of the chorus who have fallen in love," said Rory dreamily, following Avi's train of thought in staging their duet. They were in the Lopez basement rec room, preparing for the presentation to Mr. Schuester Monday, and were very happy with what they'd accomplished together.

She nodded with a big smile. "I hope Mr. Schu likes it. Don't you think he will? I love it," she rambled.

Grinning, Rory pulled her down on the couch next to him and held her close. "I'm sure he'll love it too. I do."

He looked at her intently and asked "Do you know what else or who I love?"

Avi felt her heart jump to her throat. She was excited but unexpectedly wary. "No," she said hesitantly.

"Yes you do," he said in his husky voice, smiling at her.

She dropped her eyes sadly. "You can't love me, Rory, because you don't know me."

"I know Avelina Luz," he said confidently. "She's the sweetest, loveliest, most exciting girl…anywhere."

Avi sighed unhappily. "She's the most dishonest and most…chicken. I've put off talking about my New York experience longer than I should have," she said apologetically. "You made your confession to me after one day and it was peanuts compared to what I've been keeping from you."

Rory shook his head. "You haven't kept anything from me. I've always known that you had a bad experience," he said hurriedly. "You're not in New York. You're home, surrounded by everyone who loves you, including me. Whatever it is, it's behind you. I don't want to know."

_What a sweetheart_. She gave him a kiss, hoping he wouldn't feel compelled to wipe it off in a few minutes.

She placed a cushion at one end of the couch. "Lie back," she requested, "and close your eyes. I don't want you looking at me while I'm talking."

Rory looked as though he wanted to protest but Avi said simply "please" and he complied.

She began pacing. Should she just say the worst or give any kind of background? How much background?

"I became involved with the director of my theater group last year," she said.

She saw Rory's eyebrows rise with the bluntness of that statement. Maybe she should go slower.

"He was a former actor—sophisticated, handsome (she saw Rory's jaw tighten) and he said it was fine for us to be together, even though he was twice my age. He said... 'Rules are to protect normal people. You're special, Little Avi. You will have things available to you that normal people don't. I'll always bring you the best.'"

Rory frowned; Avi continued.

"He told me I should date people my age so it wouldn't look suspicious but always save my best for him."

Avi detected Rory's eyeroll behind his closed lids.

"A few months ago I was with him and he tied my wrists to the bed."

Rory nearly rose from his position in anger.

"That wasn't unusual," she said quickly. "We'd done that before. But this time he made the room really dark and left, saying he'd be back in a minute. Then he lay down next to me and began touching my face. "I'd had a lot of wine and might have gone to sleep. I felt him on top of me."

Rory's nostrils flared and his breath came out in angry huffs. Avi continued brokenly.

"Then I realized he was still lying next to me, so who was on top of me? I tried to get up but he said "I'm here, Little Avi. I love you and my friend loves you too. He's seen you perform. Don't worry. I'll always bring you the best."

Rory clenched his fists. The only way he managed to keep his eyes closed is that Avi had asked and now, maybe he didn't want to see her.

"He told me afterwards that he and his friends liked to share special girls when they found them. He reminded me that the rules weren't for us and that I would have opportunities that other people couldn't imagine."

Rory's entire body was stiff with suppressed rage. This had to stop soon or he'd lose his mind.

"He brought that friend, who he called Tim in one more time then, said there was another one. I told him not to surprise me like he had the first time. I wanted to know in advance. I thought I could handle it; Tim wasn't too bad."

Rory squinted his face and slowly shook his head. Avi looked at him. "I told you I wasn't innocent," she said. He tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"I thought I could handle it but I was wrong," Avi said. "The week that he told me we would 'have company,' I got so nervous and sick, my aunt ended up taking me to the emergency room so the date was cancelled."

Rory sighed in relief.

"We were casting for a new show at the time," she continued. "He always gave me the part I wanted. I didn't get every starring role. That would have been obvious. But when I really wanted one, I got it. But Monday, after auditions, he gave the part he knew I wanted to another girl. She was a little younger, same body type. I knew she was my replacement."

Avi curled up in the overstuffed chair that sat at a right angle to the couch. "I invited her to lunch after the casting and told her about what had happened to me and the things he said to me. We realized she'd been told the exact same things and she was outraged at what he had planned for her. So we went to the head of the board for the theater group and gave her 24 hours for CYA, then we went to the police."

Rory gave a hint of an approving nod.

"We were interrogated, examined, intimidated and evaluated," Avi said irritatedly, and his powerful family got the charges dropped."

Rory drummed his fingers on his legs in frustration…impatience? Avi couldn't tell.

"The police had called our parents and when there was nothing more to do there, they brought me home."

In a lifeless monotone Rory asked "Is that it?"

"Yeah," Avi said quietly. "If you want to do the same duet with somebody else, I'll help train her."

Rory had opened his eyes but hadn't moved. He frowned at Avi's statement but didn't know how to respond.

"Maybe I should quit glee club so you won't have to see me at all."

Then he reacted, swinging his legs to the floor and practically leaping to Avi's chair. "Not see you? I can't do that! Avi what you told me surprised me but it doesn't make me love you less."

Avi looked at Rory with impatience. "Well thank you very much," she said tartly. "It's nice to know I have your forgiveness for being used by a network of urban scum." (That phrase had occurred to Avi some time ago and this was her first opportunity to say it out loud.)

Her attitude mystified Rory. Didn't she realize that most guys would have already run out the door? He thought he was being very understanding in saying he still loved her in spite of everything.

Avi folded her arms in disgust. "I'm embarrassed about what happened, sure. I can see where it would make you crazy but that's not the part that really upsets me."

Rory looked completely baffled.

Avi explained. "I bought into everything he said about how special I was and the rules not applying to me like normal people because that's what I'd always thought myself. My ego and sense of entitlement helped make me a victim. I worry about the other girls in glee for that reason."

Rory sat back on the floor with his knees up to his chest. "So you and they have a high opinion of yourselves," he said. "How is that worse than letting those men…" He couldn't finish.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "Because one is about who I am as a person, not an incident that will never be repeated."

"An incident," Rory said with a frustrated, angry guffaw.

Avi spoke firmly. "Like I said, never be repeated. Also never used against me. You said something about New York yesterday, remember? You can't ever do that again."

"Alright," Rory said.

Avi shook her head sadly. "No, Rory. What you think when you're sitting here, looking at me, which you like to do, and what you think later tonight, when you're by yourself, won't be the same. You have to know," she said, her eyes beginning to tear, "if you can put it behind you and not change the way you feel about me. If you can't, we can't be together."

Rory was quiet for a minute, looking at her, then took her hands. "I see what you mean," he said. "You're right. I do need to think." He brought her hands to his lips. "I want you to know though, that if I'm so sorry that I can't get over this, I'll never forgive myself."

He stood to leave. "Did he always call you Little Avi?"

Avi nodded. "Like a porcelain doll...slash blow-up doll."

He shook his head and walked up the stairs, running into Mrs. Lopez.

"Oh, Rory," she said, "are you leaving already?"

He nodded politely. "Yes, Ma'am. Avelina would like to see you downstairs."

Santana, standing behind her mother, eyed Rory suspiciously.

Mrs. Lopez knit her brows in concern. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, she just wants you," he said, in what he hoped was a normal voice. He left through the kitchen, venting his fury in a savage roar, and running hard, as though chasing the men from New York.

Santana scowled at the door that he'd allowed to slam, then followed her mother. Mrs. Lopez descended the stairs and found Avi crying.

"Mama," she whimpered, holding her arms out for her. Mrs. Lopez ran to cradle her younger daughter.

"I told him," said Avi heartbrokenly.

That was all Santana heard. She tore out of the house, in pursuit of Rory.


	17. For Avi

Santana drove more slowly than usual, scanning both sides of the street for the miserable excuse for a person who had made Avi cry.

She spotted Rory much farther down the road than she would have expected, running hard. She sped up to park ahead of his pathway and got out of the vehicle to confront him.

"Hey, you lousy piece of eurotrash, my sister trusts you with the worst thing that will ever happen to her and you run out on her?" Her brown eyes blazed and faced contorted with anger as she shoved him with that question and her next one. "So suddenly she's not so irresistible to you? I always knew you were worthless!"

Rory took the shoves without protest. Breathing hard from his run, he asked, "What about you?"

"What?"

"I know you," Rory said. "Snyx won't let anybody do something like that to someone she loves and not take action. Is that what you and Puck have been whispering about? Whatever it is, I want in."

Santana stared at him and slowly shook her head, making her black ponytail swing. "You don't know what you're saying."

He was breathing normally now. "I love her too and he hurt her. And if I turn out to be as worthless as you say and can't get over it, then he ruined something for me too. I want to make him pay."

Santana evaluated Rory as a possible confederate. He seemed determined. He definitely had a stake in this. Running wasn't part of the plan but if it became necessary, he had just proven himself in that. He'd also proven in the past that he could lie convincingly. The only question was how much he was willing to risk.

"Puck and I are eighteen. We know there's a chance we could go to jail if we're caught. You would definitely be deported," she pointed out to him.

Rory stared at her in return. "Do you think that's more important to me than Avelina? Just tell me when, where and how."

She appraised him again. "Alright, get in."

Rory took out his phone. "Her best friend would want to be in on this too—Craig, Santana and I are on our way to your place then we're all going to Puck's. It's for Avi."

Santana smiled approvingly as they got in the car. "Popeye Kilgore, huh? I always liked him—strong to the finish. Let's hope you can be too."

Rory stared out the windshield with a scowl, as if he could imagine...whatever his name was...out there. "What do you know about this guy? Avelina wouldn't even say his name."

"Reginald Ralston," she said venomously.

Rory looked over at her. "She let herself be touched by somebody named Reginald Ralston?" His tone was disgust mixed with horror.

The corners of Santana's mouth tightened. "That's his stage name," she said. "For some reason he chose not to use his family name, which is so upper, even you would have heard it."

Rory huffed in irritation. "I don't want to know," he said, returning his scowl to outside the window.

"She was fifteen; she thought she was in love," Santana reminded him, glaring out of the corner of her eye as she drove.

"With a thirty-year-old man who flattered her and called her 'Little Avi'," said Rory with renewed disgust.

Santana's hand on the steering wheel itched to slap him but she managed to control herself and said "with a man who was willing to deceive her to get what he wanted—sound familiar?"

The frown between Rory's eyes softened. He suddenly looked more thoughtful.

"Yeah," Santana said tartly, "you could be McKinley's own Reginald Ralston."

They were quiet after that until they reached Craig's house. Santana went to get him. Rory stayed in the car, thinking.

Within minutes Santana and Craig were walking down his driveway. He had a backpack, his laptop and murder in his eyes.

They got in Craig's mini-van and motioned for Rory to join them.

"This will be more comfortable for the trip," Craig explained.

"Trip to where?" asked Rory.

"Duh," said Santana, "Manhattan. How...you'll know when we get to Puck's. When...tonight."


	18. Road Sage

_a/n Need validation. Please review_

* * *

><p>In Puck's basement bedroom Santana explained her idea for vengeance to her conspirators. "I know you just want to bust the creep's head open," she said to Rory and Craig. "That was Puck's first reaction too. But there's more to this than his using Avi. There are other girls; there are other men. It's a…"<p>

"…network of urban scum," said Rory in a thoughtful monotone.

Santana turned to him in surprise. "Exactly."

Rory gave a tight nod. "So what are we doing?"

Craig had his laptop hooked up to the closest outlet, the intensity on his face magnified by the blue light from the screen. Craig had a secret talent. He could hack, playing the computer keys like a maestro plays the piano, obtaining enormous amounts of information from sources others wouldn't be able to access. He had entered Ralston's real name and was creating a file with everything he'd found, looking for clues to the identities of Tim and Ralston's other "friends."

Santana said, "What Craig is doing is important to find a couple of people that we can follow. If we're lucky, we'll be able to track them to their meeting place. But also since Puck already has plans for getting into good ole Reggie's apartment, we might be able to find a list of members and information he has against them…maybe the names of some of their other victims."

Rory asked. "What makes you think you'll find people going to a meeting?"

She explained. "Avi said something about how she never saw him the first weekend of the month. Then what she calls her "unconventional introduction" to the other guy was the second weekend. "It's worth a shot."

Rory's face reddened in his anger. "She called her assault an 'unconventional introduction'?"

"She would," Puck and Craig said together in a tolerant tone.

Rory stared at all of them, stunned.

Santana said, "Okay, if we all know what we're doing, let's go."

They had arranged a schedule for the eight-plus hour drive. Puck and Santana laid down the seats with some pillows and blankets for the first sleep. Since Rory could only drive in Ohio, he took the wheel for the beginning leg of the journey.

Craig was still pecking on the computer. It was his job to keep Rory alert. He said to his new friend, "So you and Avi have had an emotional couple of days."

Rory laughed humorlessly. "You could say that. It's like I'm suddenly dealin' with a different person. She's not just a flirt anymore she's…sexual. No wonder she was so hot doing that number the other day. She's had a lot more experience than I thought."

Craig smirked. "Maybe not so much. I've never heard any of the guys talking about getting farther than second base with her. But if she's too much for you, I know they'd all like another chance with her. She hasn't looked at anybody else though since she met you."

Rory unconsciously smiled. "How did you and Puck know she would say something like unconventional introduction?"

Craig shrugged. "She'll always try to make something bad less than it was. It's part of her protecting people."

Rory glanced at him. "So it could have been worse than what she told me?"

Again Craig shrugged. At a stoplight he directed Rory's attention to a photograph of Ralston and some friends from a college yearbook. "Look how they're all making the sign of the V," he said. "But Ralston wasn't involved in athletics and from what I've found about the other guys shown here, neither were they."

"So?" Rory asked, resuming driving.

"So the V probably doesn't stand for victory," Craig reasoned.

Rory thought for a moment. "Virgin," he said viciously, imagining the pathetic young men in the photo who might not have ever grown out of that proclivity.

Craig nodded and went in online hunt for information about the sign-makers and maybe eventual club members.

At the state line, he and Rory traded places. Rory answered the other boy's questions about Ireland and Irish customs. Craig had developed a real interest in the subject since re-discovering his roots.

When it was their turn to sleep, Rory raised his half of the bed back to a sitting position, then reclined the bucket seat so he could stretch out that way. He was thinking about his reactions to Avi's revelation, compared to those of his companions who had known and cared about her longer than he had.

He got out his phone to look at all of the pics he had of her. _I love that face. I love that smile. I love that body,_ he said to himself, coming up on a shot of Avi in the outfit for the duet with Brittany. "Avittany," he whispered with a smile, thinking of the two young women with whom he'd been involved in the last year.

Brittany embraced her sexuality, talking about it a lot, and he'd been charmed by her for it. Avi was more subtle but now that he thought about it, she hadn't tried to portray herself to be something she wasn't. Her continuous efforts to push Rory farther than frantic making out certainly didn't suggest purity. She had stated bluntly, "I'm not innocent."

_But she is,_ Rory suddenly realized. Despite her familiarity with varied positions, she had simple, sweet ideas of love and friendship and helping people, minimizing bad things and encouraging the good. "Avelina," he whispered lovingly.

He sent her a text—_Thinking of you. Sleep well, Rrrrorrry_.

Then he closed his eyes and had more pleasant dreams about her than his new knowledge had led him to expect.


	19. Vengeance Can Be Fun

Whether through luck, determination, excellent cooperation or divine intervention, Operation Avi was completely successful. On the way home the Lima Special Ops group relived the experience, all too excited to sleep.

On their arrival in Manhattan the Ohioans and Irish native had used the information Craig had garnered to locate a couple of the other men whom they suspected as Ralston's fellow predators.

Rory had used his accent, smile and gift for story-telling to extract from desk clerks and doormen, secretaries and people on the street current information about them. He'd also been able to learn enough to conclude that their plans for the day all ended in a meeting later that evening.

Puck, employing his natural criminal instincts for good, had made earlier trips to Ralston's apartment and thoroughly cased the area. He'd carefully outlined for Rory and Craig the entries to the building and apartment he'd planned. He'd gotten bulky clothes for all of them to disguise their actual shapes and gloves, with the instruction to not touch anything without them.

He and Santana had done the tailing and described the meeting they'd witnessed. "It was like that freaky Tom Cruise movie with all the naked babes in masks, Puck said. "It looked like some of the girls were underage so we knew we had to call the cops, but we didn't want to let Ralston off that easy. We knew you two still wanted a crack at him."

"So we slipped him a note that said 'Raid'," Santana interjected. "The son of a bitch just left without warning anyone else."

"Good," said Rory. "Because I wouldn't have wanted to miss meeting him."

Rory didn't share with anyone what, for him, had been the hardest part of the mission—facing Ralston's bedroom, where Avi had apparently spent some good nights until things changed. He couldn't help but concentrate on the bedposts, where she'd been willingly bound.

He'd quickly left the room when his thoughts had strayed to the fateful night with Tim. Maybe Rory should have followed him, rather than searching Ralston's place. He owed Tim special attention too. But Craig hadn't found that name in his research. Rory was hoping to meet him in the future.

In the meantime his search of Ralston's place led to the discovery of a flash drive behind the mirror in the bathroom. He had rolled his eyes at Ralston's melodramatic yet failed attempt at concealment.

Santana laughed at Rory's recounting of it. "They probably all have something like that hidden where they think no one will ever find it. I wonder how much blackmailing goes on between them."

"Oh I'm sure they have goons to rub somebody out who tried," Craig said sarcastically.

Puck chuckled. "Was there a group of names like Lefty or Spike or Five-Fingers McGee?"

"Hey," both Rory and Craig responded in mock offense.

Craig continued. "They had some nicknames, alright—Stallion, Babymaker." Santana threw back her head in disgust. Craig looked at Rory, sitting across from him. "Ralston wrote one entry—'English Chunnel-here'. Date was second Friday in February."

They all grew quiet. _She didn't even say he was English,_ Rory said to himself.

Santana recovered first, though there was definite rancor in her tone. "So did you just send the whole file out online?"

Craig shook his head. "I scrubbed any mention of girls' names or identifying info from what I sent out for general release. I included that though on the file I sent to the police."

"I watched him," said Rory. "It was genius how he sent it from Ralston's own computer with the opening, 'I can't live with the shame anymore. I must confess'."

Puck pulled over for someone else to drive. Santana took her turn. "I wonder who got to him first—his parents or the cops."

Puck stretched out in the seat. "Whoever it was found a hot mess. Damn, Kilgore, how much junk from the fridge did you pour over him anyway?"

"Well I didn't have a slushie," Craig responded with a laugh. "But there wasn't as much hair for it to get gooped up in after you went at it with the scissors."

Puck smiled evilly. "Those blond curls had to go. I wanted to get as much as I could out of our agreed-on one penalty each," he said gleefully.

Rory sat back in satisfaction. "Yeah, even if I have crooked fingers for the rest of my life, I'll always think of that crack from his jaw when I hit him as my favorite sound. Just think, generations of breeding went into that profile and I made him much less handsome with one upper cut and to the side—hometown favorite," he added, rubbing his knuckles.

Puck gave him a high five. "Then there was the Santana Special. Do you think he actually tasted his nuts when you kicked him hard enough to drive them into his mouth?"

"I hope he chokes on them," Santana said vindictively.

Craig asked, "So what did the two of you do when we separated? Puck and I didn't have any trouble, except for almost being mugged when we went through the park."

"We ran into somebody on the sidewalk just outside of Ralston's building," Rory said. "I made sure our faces weren't seen."

Santana growled. "I still don't think you had to kiss me."

"It was the first thing I thought of," Rory said.

"...and the smartest," added Puck.

"Believe me," Rory continued, "I didn't enjoy it anymore than you did...well, maybe a little more," he said mischievously. "But I'd still rather kiss the other Lopez sister."

"Hmph," said Santana, "I'd rather kiss anyone, but especially Maria," she added in a gentler tone.

Rory grinned. "Glad that's workin' out for ya."

"Yeah yeah, you introduced me to the perfect woman. I'm forever grateful...blah, blah, blah," Santana said.

"No need to thank me, " Rory said, leaning over to see Santana's expression, "Maria already has." He caught her secret smile.

Craig and Puck had drifted off to sleep, leaving Rory to keep Santana awake. "I wonder what Avi would say if she knew what we've done."

Santana shrugged. "Probably we shouldn't have taken the risk but it was very sweet of us and thank you. And she's glad some of the other girls will be able to get closure."

Rory chuckled lightly. "That sounds like her—worrying about everybody else, since it wasn't a big deal to her."

Santana glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"She said the 'incident' was embarrassing but she was most upset that her ego had led her to be a victim," he explained.

Santana f;a[[ed her hand to brush off that statement. "That was so she could put responsibility on herself then minimize it. She knows what happened to her. I've heard her cry at night."

Rory looked out the window, this time being able to put one face on his malice, and now also imagining Tim, the "English Chunnel."

Santana continued "She's cried less since she's been with you, which is the only reason I can stand your mushy face being around all the time. If you end up hurting her again over this, I'll give you the Ralston treatment every day, until you limp back to wherever you came from."

"I'd expect no less," he answered, "though I should warn you, Irish stones are harder than a pampered big city man's."

At the Ohio state line, Rory offered to drive the rest of the way and told Santana she could sleep, since he had a lot to think about and could do so better alone.

And think he did—about Avelina, what her friends and sister had said, what she had said, what his heart told him—on the drive home, for a little while at the Foo tree, in his room the rest of the day and in his dreams that night.


	20. Kick in the Head

Poor Avi had to drag herself to school Monday. She hadn't heard from Rory since receiving the text message late Friday night. Whatever he'd been thinking of her then, he'd obviously decided she wasn't who he had thought she was and no longer wanted her.

Not even the radio announcement about the arrests of Wall Street financiers, television executives, politicians and a children's theater manager in a pedophile sting had cheered her, though Santana had done a fist pump at the news.

Avi let herself look optimistically toward her locker but Rory wasn't there. She dropped to her knees pitiably to begin loading her bookbag for the miserable morning.

She stood and became aware of someone standing very close behind her.

"You don't have to doubt me, Avelina," Rory whispered. "I love you."

She turned happily and threw her arms around him. "Are you sure?"

Rory grinned down at her. "I'm sure I've thought about everything the last two days and, in the end, what I know is what I already knew—that you're the sweetest, loveliest, most exciting girl anywhere. And being with you makes me...the luckiest lad in Lima."

Avi giggled. "A triple—I'm impressed."

"You bring it out in me," he said. "Now put your books where they belong. Nothing's changed, except I love you more."

She was giddy as she transferred her books to Rory's satchel and walked the length of the school with him to her first class.

At the door she looked up at him and bit a corner of her bottom lip. "I love you too."

"I know," he responded. "It's your natural state, after you found enough reasons to love me."

She was wearing a huge smile. "It took less than a week. Ain't it a kick?"

Rory returned the smile. "Yeah, it really is." They separated, humming the same tune. Avi rushed to her seat to tell Ang the wonderful news.

In front of her second period class, Craig clapped Rory on the back as he passed them, saying, "I'm willing to take her off your hands."

Rory said in retort, "Yeah, how much good are you goin' to be for her after I've cut off your balls?" He and Craig exchanged a smile.

"You two have become really close, haven't you," Avi said with delight.

Rory nodded. "It's you. You've helped turn one of my worst enemies into one of my best friends. You've helped Brittany go from someone that people saw only as a bimbo to a leader with vision. You've almost made your sister and me friends."

Avi had a partial smolder in her eyes as she said, " and I've helped make you the best kisser on the eastern seaboard."

"Well you would know," he said teasingly, as he bent for a small sample.

She gave him a playful slap.

"We'll share our expertise later," he promised.

At the second bell he turned to run back the way he'd come. Avi floated into class and up to Craig. She gave him a loud kiss on his full, stubbly cheek.

He looked happily surprised. "What was that for?"

"I had one left," she said with a smile that wouldn't leave her face, "and you're the second best guy in school."

Craig watched her move to her own chair in front of him. "You're welcome, honey," he whispered to himself.

For third period Avi and Rory went to tell Mr. Schu their duet was ready for him to see.

"Cool," he said, leaning comfortably on the classroom door. "You can show me this afternoon."

The couple's eyes darted between their classrooms and the clock.

"Take your time," Schu said cheerfully.

Avi looked around Rory, who was standing in front of her, back to Mr. Schu. "Does he seem more relaxed to you?"

"Nice if someone is," Rory said. "I've gotten more tense each time I've seen you. Now I don't care who we make uncomfortable." He picked her up and kissed her so that her toes curled.

Schu called from across the hall, "Hey, Rorvi, Emma said she'd like to see a show for lunch. You want to do your number for us then?"

They nodded in agreement and went to their classes, Schu giving Rory a fist bump as he walked past him.

In the auditorium during lunch hour, Emma clapped excitedly at the end of Rory and Avi's song. Schu heaped praise on them, as he moved to the stage to give them some notes.

Rory's phone buzzed with a call from his older brother. "Hey, Bri, I haven't talked to you in a few days."

Brian was somber on the other end. "There's been a bombing. Dylan's dead."

Shocked, Rory lowered his head.. "Anyone else?" he managed to choke out.

"No," Brian answered, "only the bomber."

* * *

><p><em><strong>an The duet song is a tune that Damian had played when he was a guest on a radio program in Ireland during his Christmas vacation. I have no more association with it than I do anything else of value ever mentioned in this story**_

With the first strains of the jazzy brass fanfare, Rory, wearing the black tux the boys had chosen for their costume, stepped out from New Directions' square formation and sang

_How luck can one guy be  
><em>_I kissed her and she kissed me  
><em>_Like the fella once said…  
><em>

_Ain't that a kick in the head_

inserted Avi, sliding out from the other side of the square, in the black ruffled dress the girls had chosen to wear again in homage to Quinn, who wasn't there.

_The room went completely black (_she sang)  
><em>I smiled at him and he smiled back<em>

_Like the fella said quote, _

added Rory, beginning with a low note as Avi twirled and backed up against him, then trilled

_Ain't that a hole in the boat,_

she emphasized with a wiggle to the floor and back up.

Rory's expression of apparent ecstasy pleased the Nationals audience. The lead singer from Vocal Adrenaline remarked to the person standing next to him, "…like a young Dean Martin—yummm."

Avi and Rory danced across the stage, singing the chorus together up to the point of the lyric

_My life is gonna be bee-yoo-tiful,_

when Avi jumped into his arms and he spun her around. He dropped to one knee as Avi continued

_He tells me we're gonna be wed_

She gave a broad wink to the audience on his line

_She's picked out a king-sized bed,_

as he cast his eyes heavenward.

_I couldn't feel any better, _

Avi sang, whirling away with arms flung wide, then rushing back to catch a staggering Rory on his lyric

…_or I'd be sick_

Avi gave him a fleeting peck on the lips, as he leaned back in her arms. He popped up to standing position to sing

_Tell me quick_

Avi came back with

_Ain't love a kick_

bending her knee for a flirty backward kick. They sang together as they moved back to their original positions

_Ain't love a kick—in the head,_

and held the last note until they were again standing on either side of the second row.

Their heads bobbed as if trying to catch a final glimpse of each other around Sam and Mercedes, who stood between them. Avi finished with an air kiss to Rory and they dropped their heads, like everyone else, as if it never happened.

The audience cheered loudly, rising to its feet and chanting "Kiss her, kiss her…"

New Directions was unable to begin its final song over the noise of the crowd.

Avi and Rory looked uncertain at first, then her excellent room-reading skills kicked in and she motioned for Rory to come to her.

He put a casual arm over her shoulders and kissed her cheek but the audience continued its demand.

Was it sabotage? Was the audience so enamored of the couple that it actually wanted to see a kiss?

Rory looked toward Mr. Schu, standing in the wings. The last thing Schu wanted after last year was to be the director of the "kissing choir" but the delay was becoming awkward and the audience more insistent in its chant.

He looked where the judges sat. They, of course, weren't yelling with everyone else, but didn't seem opposed to the audience's wishes.

He and Avi reached the same conclusion.

"Separate so they can see us," she whispered to Sugar and Artie, who were positioned in the first row. "Control yourself," she instructed Rory. They shared a kiss that finally satisfied the audience without being too personal.

The group was then able to finish its set. The applause was loud and sustained.

In the audience Harmony, the Gerber Baby, was excited to put her plan into effect. She had recently moved to New York to join a reorganized young people's theater group, as a stepping stone to acceptance by NYADA.

She was at the competition to see the cute Irish guy from Lima. He had approached her at Sectionals and she'd rejected him. But now she was eager for him to fall in love with her so he'd invite her to Ireland. International travel and maybe even performance (fingers crossed) could cinch NYADA for her.

She found New Directions in the lobby and saw Rory talking to a group that included his duet partner.

She confidently approached him. "Hi, Rory, remember me?" she asked, her bright red lips framing her smile.

He at first looked baffled then said, "Hello, Harmony. This is Tina, Mike, Blaine, Ku…"

"We've met," Kurt interrupted.

"And this is Avelina," Rory continued, putting his arm around her waist.

She smiled. "Avi. Only Rory calls me by my full name."

Harmony's face fell. "The two of you are really a couple?"

Avi smiled in answer. "Nice to meet you," she said, as Rory pulled her away.

Kurt was feeling devilish, thinking of the disparaging online comments Harmony had made about New Directions after Sectionals.

"Ah yes," he said, leaning over to speak in her ear as she watched Rory and Avi disappear in the crowd, "a couple so nice, we shipped them twice. That's Rorvi Lonagan and as you can see, that ship has sailed. Okay, one more," he said, after a moment's pause. "With Avi, Rory won't be lone again."

Harmony walked away, her mind already busy devising other plans.

In another area of the room, Finn was pleasantly surprised that Rachel wasn't fuming over being upstaged by both the duet and the Troubletones.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Glee club has been an important part of our lives. It's where we fell in love. I'm glad to know it will be in good hands when we leave."

Finn looked down at her lovingly.

"Even if Rory isn't able to come back," Rachel continued, "Avi has shown she knows what she's doing."

Schu came up to them at that moment, holding hands with Emma. "I'm proud of you, Rachel," he said. "You've grown into a real trouper."

The group converged then to return to the auditorium for announcements. No one was really surprised when New Directions won. They all headed upstairs to celebrate.

Rory seemed subdued. He pulled Avi away from the group to a little lounge area between their hotel rooms.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked. "Have I done something wrong?"

He wrapped reassuring arms around her and led her to the loveseat. "No. You're perfect," he said. "That's what makes this so hard."

Avi swallowed hard, her dark brown eyes locked on him for an explanation.

He took a deep breath. "I'm not going back with everyone tomorrow," he said. "From here…I'm returning to Ireland."


	21. Last Night

_**a/n Never having been to Ireland or studied the situation there in detail, don't feel qualified to discuss it any more than Damian's tweet from January, after a bombing in his hometown. His comment is paraphrased in Rory's statement. Rory's course of action inspired by Damian's involvement with creative arts program in Derry and a commentary in the Irish Times about the hope for negotiation because of the rapport of the factions' current representatives **_

* * *

><p>"Why, asked Avi plaintively. "It's not time for you to go back yet."<p>

Rory leaned forward, with his arms resting on his knees and hands clasped tightly. "I can't stop thinking about Dylan," he said. "Myself and Brian have been talking about how he was used and how everyone there has that possibility hanging over them. When are they going to learn that 98 percent of us just want peace?"

Avi looked at him thoughtfully and he returned her gaze. "I have to go back and do what I can."

"What do you think you can do?"

Rory shrugged. "I want to tell the kids that we should be more interested in peace than either side of an argument. The politics should be left to the middle-aged people with life experience, like Kurt's dad. But that's not sexy enough for us. We need to focus on relationships, creativity, positive physical exertion in all it forms, he said meaningfully. It's your idea of mob mentality turned for good."

"Where do I sign," said Avi encouragingly. "I'm sure they'll all want to join Team Rory, or if you're doing it with your brother, Team Rorian. But why now," she asked again.

He sighed. "I thought about leaving as soon as I got the news. Dylan was a good mate. But I didn't want to let you and the rest of glee club down. Now that Nationals is over, it only makes sense to leave from here."

"Why didn't you tell me that's what you were doing?"

He smiled. "I didn't want anything to affect your performance. You were wonderful, Avi," he said, holding her close. "The audience wanted me to kiss you because they wanted to kiss you."

She lowered her eyes and said simply, "I don't want you to go."

"I have to," Rory said. "I'm a better person than I was when I first came to America. It's because of you. The man who deserves you would do whatever he can for his family and friends and his country."

She pouted. "I don't want a more noble Rory there. I want you with me, even if you do lie or can be judgmental. You can fool around with Brittany again if you want. Just stay as long as you can."

He squeezed her tightly. "I already have stayed as long as I can and we both know you don't mean any of that."

"No," she admitted, looking at Rory with the first signs of smoldering eyes.

"This is our last night," she whispered.

"Yeah," Rory said, now aware of the smolder.

She kissed him softly at first then more hungrily. "I love you, Rory. I want to show you how much."

He felt light-headed. It would be so easy to give in. He'd dare the guys to come in the room that night (Puck had told them about Ralston) or he could use the money he had left to get them a room, or…he came out of the spell. "We can't," he said. "I don't have the time to give you the attention you should have. We have to wait until I come back."

Avi stopped kissing him and pulled away. "You've never wanted me the way I have you. I'd think it was because of what you learned about me, but you've always pushed me away. And now that you know, there's no chance of it ever being the 'right time.' I might as well join a convent," she said sadly.

"Please don't do that, Avelina," Rory said in his lowest, most seductive voice. "I am coming back and I don't want to come back to a nun."

He tried to move closer to her but she was back to pouting and steeled herself against his touch.

Rory stood. "I need to show you something," he said, holding out his hand for her.

She followed like a willful child to the boys' room, where Rory pulled out his book bag.

"I don't remember seeing you with that," she said sulkily.

Rory grinned. He thought Avi was cute when she pouted. He explained, "Finn carried it for me. A couple of the guys and Brittany brought the rest of my things so you wouldn't notice I had more than everyone else."

Avi went from pouty to irritable. "Brittany knew what you were doing and I didn't?"

He was still grinning. "I didn't think it would affect her performance. And anyway, ten minutes ago you said I could fool around with her again if I wanted."

She crossed her arms. "This isn't funny. If you think it is, maybe I'll just leave. You've already made it clear nothing is going to happen in here anyway."

Rory sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her onto his lap. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be teasing you on our last night. I couldn't resist. But I wanted to show you what's in the satchel."

It was more than half-way full of 5x7 notebooks. "I've written down all of the fantasies I've had about you," he said. "Each book only lasts a few days. There might be one that covers two weeks."

He picked up one and gave it to her. "This is from when we first met," he explained. "I'd be embarrassed for you to read some of the later ones. I'll tell you there's one whole book about you in that beaded dress."

Avi smirked. "What did you say about the dress?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Let's just say that Velcro helped and, in my mind, that piano has been broken for a while."

She responded with a coy titter. "You really do love me, don't you?"

He began rubbing her arms and shoulders. "Yes, I love you, Avelina, but you won't find love in that book. It's pure desire. And I began Page One at my desk after walking you to your first class."

Avi randomly opened the book and read. "...an Aztec princess, dripping in flowers and beads…"

"…and nothing else," finished Rory, moving to kiss her.

He indulged himself more than usual…not controlling his hands, nibbling her neck and jaw, teasing the inside of her mouth with a hyperactive tongue.

Avi's eyes were shiny with excitement, almost like black lacquer. She wrapped herself around him and did her best to push him down on the bed.

The force she exerted helped Rory snap back to reality. "We have to get out of here," he said hoarsely.

"No," she wheedled. "I want to stay."

"Aww, please, Avi, don't make this harder than it already is," Rory said, standing up with her in his arms to walk out of the room.

"My book," she exclaimed. He turned back into the room so she could pick up the notebook from the bed.

He sighed in relief when he'd gotten her out of the room and they were leaning against the wall in the empty corridor. "You hot, precious babe," he said breathily.

_He's been around Puck too much, _Avi said to herself_._

Rory moved her hair from her eyes and mouth. "Facing urban terrorists will be easy after that," he said.

She got a look of horror on her face and was about to launch into an impassioned protest when Rory said with a smile, "I'm joking. I promise you I'm going to protect every bit of myself for you."

She asked pertly, "Are you being as suggestive as it sounds?"

"It's more than a suggestion," Rory said, as they walked to the girls' room. "It's a solemn vow."

He kissed her at the door. "Good night, lusty lady."

"Good night, virile virgin," she said saucily.

Rory chuckled and put his arms around her neck. "No wonder I love you." He was quiet then, resting his head next to hers. "Avelina, they know. Your girls are there for you. I'll see you in the morning," he whispered with the last kiss.

Avi watched him walk up the hall. The tears she'd held back could no longer be denied. She opened the door and ran into a mass of sympathetic arms.


	22. Make Your Country Proud

At the airport, Avi and Rory couldn't let go of each other. They stood away from everyone else, at the far end of the waiting area, watching the planes.

"I hate Ireland," Avi said from the circle of his arms.

He kissed the top of her head then laid his chin there. "I love Ireland…and you. I just wish the two of you weren't so far apart."

"You're always saying how small I am (which I'm really not) but I could probably fit in your luggage."

"Don't tempt me," said Rory. "I'll be punching air holes for you."

She turned to face him. "Why do you always tell me not to tempt you? I want to tempt you."

He smiled down on her. "I think the notebooks prove that you do."

Avi got an impish look. "I bet we could manage page ten before you have to leave," she said, pulling his head down for a throaty kiss.

Rory raised up after a minute and said weakly, "Avelina, I still have to walk to the plane".

Her eyes were smoldering and her face was flushed and she wasn't finished. "Crawl," she growled, standing on tiptoe to reach his mouth..

Santana suddenly came within a few feet of them. "That's enough, Avelina Luz-lips," she said commandingly.

Avi looked at her and wrinkled her nose. "It's impossible to seduce your boyfriend in public when the public includes your bossy big sister."

Rory grinned. "What did she call you?"

"It's my nickname," Avi said a little hesitantly, "Avelina Luz-lips".

"Loose lips?" Rory asked, his grin widening. "Why am I just now hearing about this?"

Avi shrugged. "Mama's called me that since I was five when this boy and I were caught kissing in kindergarten." (No reason to tell him that the boy was Joe Hart and that was when his parents decided to homeschool him).

Rory threw back his head and laughed. "It's perfect," he said. "That's my girl…ideal proportions and loose lips."

He led her to a chair and sat down himself then crooked his finger for her to lean over to kiss him, the way she had done after their first lunch together and many times afterward.

"I wanted to see that expression one more time," he said softly.

She smiled. "Are there any other memories you want?"

"My name," he said. "Roll it for me."

"Rrrrorrry".

He stood and put his arm around her and began walking toward the group on the other side of the room. "Time for goodbyes."

Avi went to have a quietly heated talk with Santana. Rory gathered the guys in a huddle. There was a crescendo hum from their circle then Rory broke from the midst to sing a loud, raucous goodbye song…

_Well, I'll be back, I'm comin' back  
>Don't throw away your welcome mat<em>

Old songs just fit Rory's sensibilities so well, Elvis in particular. Avi was enthralled.

_I'm hopin' the door will be open  
>A teeny-weeny crack…to your shack<br>So keep your love light burnin'  
><em>'_Cause I'll be back_

Rory lifted the collar on his shirt, turned away from the group, then looked back over his shoulder. "Yeah I'll be back."

Everyone in the vicinity applauded, having thoroughly enjoyed the impromptu singing of the handsome boy and his handsome friends.

Avi managed not to throw herself into his arms by standing stock-still and staring. Actually, she was a little nervous about moving. She had better understanding now of why the boys had stayed in their seats after her torch song.

Rory concluded his farewells, hugging all of the girls and shaking Mr. Schu's hand.

"You've been great for glee club," said the teacher, not bothering to mention the influence he and Avi had had on Schu's own romantic life. "I hope to have you back next year."

Rory pulled a list from his jeans pocket. "In the meanwhile here are some names of people who said they might like to join."

He kissed Emma's hand. "Mr. Schu's a lucky man," he said gallantly.

Emma beamed. She'd always found the Irish boy charming.

Rory turned to Avi. She was recovered well enough that she could take his arm to walk with him to the gate for his flight. "Let's go," she said, moving more or less normally.

He stopped just past their friends. "I want you to stay here with them."

Avi's voice pitched higher in her denial. "No. I want to be with you as long as I can."

He shook his head. "I can't bear to look back and see you standing alone, knowing the long walk you'd have by yourself to get back to everyone. I know you're strong and independent and you don't need anyone but….please, let my last image of you be where you're surrounded by people who love you, almost as much as I do."

She could tell he'd rehearsed that speech. She opened her mouth to argue.

Rory turned the full force of his sunny blue eyes on her, something he hadn't done since he'd made his confession during their second lunch together. "Please," he said simply.

She sighed in assent."'Bye, ideal Irishman," she said sadly.

"Goodbye, amazing American," he responded.

Avelina wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. "We love each other."

"Yes we do," he said, lowering his head for their final kiss, then walking away.

"Rory." He turned back to her. "I was going to give this to you at the gate," she said, handing him a small memo pad with the hotel logo on it. "It's some reading material for you on the plane, my answer to your notebook," she explained.

Rory saw that it was full. "You wrote all of this last night?"

Avi smiled brazenly. "I'm a fast scribbler and I had a lot to say."

He held her again and, over her shoulder, caught Santana's eye and motioned for her.

She came and took her sister's hand as Rory released her.

"The incredible Lopez girls," he said, snapping a pic of them with his camera phone. "I love them both…in very different ways."

He turned his head to look back after walking away and noticed some of the guys had already begun moving closer to Avi. "Let the games begin," he said to himself cynically.

At the gate he was surprised to see Brittany.

"I wanted a private goodbye. I'm going to miss you too," she said. "After all we've been shacking up for almost a year."

Rory grinned. "You've been a wonderful hostess. Thank you for everything," he said, pulling out his camera phone again.

"My friends have seen tons of pictures of Avi. They don't believe they're real but they've seen them. I want to show them the classic American cheerio…let your hair down…and student council president."

Brittany moved closer. "I don't want you to remember me that way, Rory. I'm your studdle partner," she said, putting her arms around his neck, "and you're _my _six-foot leprechaun." She kissed him and said "Try not thinking about me, I dare you."

Rory took her hands from around his neck and held them briefly. "I'm sure I'll think about you, Brittany, in many ways."

She walked backwards with a flirtatious smile. He gave her a friendly wave.

"Young man," said an elderly fellow with a thick brogue standing in front of Rory, "I just saw you with that pretty blonde and downstairs earlier with the lovely dark-haired girl and I just want to tell you…you've done your country proud."

Rory smiled, thinking about what he'd learned with Avi, the glee club, Craig and others about constancy, truth, self-discipline and joyful expression.

He imagined the lovely dark-haired girl from their first day during her audition, singing... "I can see how proud you were to fight for freedom in this land."

He looked down at the older man. "Thank you, sir," he said, putting his arm over his shoulders as they walked to board the plane, "I hope to continue to do so."

He looked up at the window where he and Avi had stood earlier and added to himself, …_and then come back to her_.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Couple's story continues here s8023007/1/Avi_Rory_and_Everyone_Else,  
><strong>__**with unexpected characters figuring prominently, Rory and Avi continuing a long-distance relationship and (spoiler alert) Rory getting laid**_


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